In 1794 John Cadbury (one of ten children) opened a shop in Birmingham, England, next to his fathers'. He sold hops, mustard and a new sideline – cocoa and drinking chocolate. By 1831 the business had changed from a grocery shop and John Cadbury had become a manufacturer of drinking chocolate and cocoa. This was the start of the Cadbury manufacturing business as it is known today. Milk chocolate for eating was first made by Cadbury in 1897 by adding mild powder paste to the dark chocolate recipe of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar. But it was very coarse, dry and not sweet or milky enough for public tastes. At that time continental competition was fierce between the French and Swiss. A new recipe was formulated led by George Cadbury Junior, the Bournville expert, by incorporating fresh milk and new production processes were developed to produce a milk chocolate.

Cadbury received the first overseas order back in 1881 from the Cadbury representative in Australia – long before the world famous Cadbury’s Dairy Milk had been developed. Trade grew rapidly before the 1914-18 war especially in the old British Empire. The first overseas factory was opened in Hobart Tasmania in 1922, followed by New Zealand in 1930 with Canada and Dublin Eire in 1932 and SOUTH AFRICA in 1939.

Cadbury now has factories all over the world.

Royal Macadamia, based in Louis Trichardt, is a leading Macadamia Nut processor that exports all their production.