Cadbury’s visit proves a real treat!

December 3, 2019

Discovering how a transnational company operates in today’s global marketplace was the focus of a much-anticipated Geography trip to Cadbury’s.

In fact, one pupil described the day as “the best school trip – fun and educational!”

On arrival to the Cadbury factory in Bournville, Birmingham (now part of the Mondelez International Group, which is part of Kraft Foods Group), students listened to an excellent talk by Cadbury Education Manager, Mr. Colin Pitt.

They found out about the complexities of global business, and why Kraft Foods purchased Cadburys in 2010. New product design and advertising were also discussed – 300 people are now employed in Bournville’s Centre of Chocolate Excellence, its centre for Research & Development.

As new markets develop across the world, Cadbury’s has to cater for many different tastes and palettes. Pupils were amazed to hear about new flavours of Oreo biscuits for the Chinese market – chicken wing and wasabi, and durian flavoured Dairy Milk for the Malaysian market. Pupils were also interested to learn about new Cadbury vegan products.

Mr. Pitt then discussed future growth markets for Cadbury products; these are currently focused in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) and the Gulf States. Kraft has also recently opened a new $90 million factory in Bahrain.

Head of Geography, Mr. Meek, said: “As always, Mr. Pitt was impressed with the girl’s attention and thought-provoking questions, and praised Year 9 for their insight and interest.”

Pupils later had the opportunity to explore the new museum exhibit of Cadbury packaging and memorabilia, before enjoying a factory tour investigating the historic roots of chocolate and the Cadbury family. They also enjoyed hands on activities, including tempering warm chocolate.

Mr. Meek added: “A fantastic time was had by all – who would expect there would be so much geography in a humble bar of chocolate?

“Thank you to Year 9 who were, ‘one the best school groups to tour the factory’ as quoted by a Cadbury employee.”