🍫 In 1824, on Bull Street in Birmingham, England, John Cadbury opened a small grocery store. He was a Quaker. At the time, Quakers were campaigning for temperance to solve social problems like alcoholism and poverty. John Cadbury sold 'cocoa' and 'drinking chocolate', which he ground himself with a mortar and pestle, as healthy alternatives to alcohol.
In 1861, due to John's deteriorating health, the business was passed to his sons, Richard and George. To save the company, the brothers implemented technical innovations. They introduced a press developed in the Netherlands to successfully separate the fat component, 'Cocoa Butter', from the cocoa beans. Through this, they launched smooth, lump-free 'Cocoa Essence', which gained mass popularity.
The problem was the massive amount of leftover 'Cocoa Butter'. Richard utilized this surplus to develop 'Eating Chocolate'.
Afterward, Cadbury grew rapidly. In 1905, they launched 'Dairy Milk' using fresh liquid milk instead of condensed milk, expanding their market share. In the 20th century, Cadbury expanded into a global enterprise, merging with Schweppes in 1969. However, in 2010, the US food giant Kraft Foods (now Mondelēz) acquired Cadbury for £11.9 billion in a hostile takeover. The 186-year history of Cadbury as an independent British company came to an end. although it still maintains the Royal Warrant received from Queen Victoria in 1858, the 'family management' and 'social enterprise' spirit dreamed of by the Quaker founders have been diluted within the global corporate system.
💝 On this day, February 14, 1868, St. Valentine's Day, Richard designed a 'Heart-shaped Fancy Box' to hold the eating chocolate he had developed. He decorated it with paintings of roses and Cupids. The practical marketing—"After eating the chocolates, use the box to keep your lover's letters or trinkets"—hit the mark. This 'Heart Box' gained explosive popularity among Victorian lovers, establishing the formula of Valentine's Day = Chocolate in the West.
This became the origin of the modern Valentine's Day chocolate box.
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