Choccy founder’s family follows in steps
THE great-great-grandson of chocolate legend George Cadbury is taking on the family company – with help from Richard Branson.
James Cadbury is “depressed” by the standard of chocolate sold by his ancestor’s firm since Kraft bought it in 2010.
And he wants to show them where they are going wrong after being handed a Virgin start-up loan to help expand his firm Love Cocoa. James said: “Lots of people grew up loving Cadbury’s. It was really disappointing when they got taken over. As a family we couldn’t do anything. American chocolate isn’t great.”
Brummie James’s Quaker ancestor George built Cadbury’s into the world’s most famous chocolate brand at Bournville, Birmingham, in the late 19th century. The company became famous for its charitable deeds, including giving money to hospitals. But his descendants lost control after US food giant Kraft’s hostile takeover. Kraft has been slammed for its methods, including changing the Creme Egg recipe to cut costs.
James, 32, said of his famous ancestor: “Hopefully he’d be happy if he was looking down on me.”
He said he needed a Virgin loan to help the business partly because his ancestors gave away most of the family money to charities and hospitals.