1866 An innovative processing technique is introduced

The turning point for the Cadbury business was the introduction of a new processing technique, resulting in the 1866 launch of 'Cadbury Cocoa Essence', the UK's first unadulterated cocoa.

Before Cocoa Essence, the cocoa Cadbury produced, like that of many other manufacturers, contained high levels of cocoa butter. They had to add starches to mask its taste and texture. But George Cadbury had heard about an innovative cocoa press being used by a Dutch manufacturer called Coenraad Johannes van Houten. The press squeezed out much of the cocoa butter from the beans, so it wasn’t necessary to add starches.

Could this be the way forward? Buying the press was a massive gamble. It was expensive and the brothers had little money. It had to be used for mass production and no one knew if there’d be enough demand for the product. But the Cadbury brothers decided to go for it - the first British manufacturer to go down this route. It was a momentous step, one that changed the British cocoa business and led to the future prosperity of Cadbury. The press was installed in their factory in Bridge Street, Cadbury Brothers’ new product appeared. Cocoa Essence was extensively advertised as 'Absolutely Pure. Therefore Best’, alongside medical testimonials. The marketing of Cocoa Essence helped increase sales dramatically and transformed a small business into the worldwide company that Cadbury is today.

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1875 Cadbury makes their first Easter egg

The first Cadbury Easter egg was made in 1875. The earliest eggs were made with dark chocolate and had a smooth, plain surface. They were filled with sugar-coated chocolate drops known as 'dragees’. Later Easter eggs were decorated and had their plain shells enhanced with chocolate piping and marzipan flowers. so it wasn't necessary to add starches.

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1879 Bournville 'The Factory in a Garden' is born

Birmingham architect, George H. Gadd worked closely with George Cadbury to draw up plans for the factory. The first bricks were laid in January 1879 and 16 houses for foremen and senior employees were built on the site.

These mostly semi-detached houses were well-built and spaced out with ample gardens. Production began at the Cadbury Brothers' 'Bournville factory in a garden' in September 1879. When the workers arrived they found facilities that were simply unknown in Victorian times. There was a field next to the factory where men were encouraged to play cricket and football; a garden and playground for the girls; a kitchen where workers could heat up their meals, and properly heated dressing rooms where they could get changed. As George said, 'If the country is a good place to live in, why not to work in?’ Keen sportsmen, Richard and George encouraged sports and recreations, often playing cricket themselves. Sports facilities grew to include football, hockey and cricket pitches, tennis and squash racquet courts and a bowling green. Gradually women's and men's swimming pools were built and every young boy and girl joining the company was encouraged to become a good swimmer. Work outings to the country were organised together with summer camps for the young boys. Morning prayers and daily bible readings, first started in 1866, helped preserve the family atmosphere and continued for another 50 years, until the workforce grew too large for such an assembly. For workers who still needed to travel to the new factory from their homes in Birmingham, the Cadbury brothers negotiated special workmen's train fares to Bournville’s Stirchley Station with the local railway company. Cadbury duly became famous not just for its prosperity, but also for the advances in conditions and social benefits for its workforce.

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1895 George Cadbury Builds a Further 143 Cottages in Bournville

George Cadbury decided not to go for tunnel-backs because it limited the amount of light in the houses. Instead he chose rectangular cottages, each one with a large garden. In 1895, 143 cottages were built on the land he had bought privately, a total of 140 acres.

When building started at Bournville, the basic house type built in the Midlands was the 'tunnel-back'. It was cheap, large-scale housing complying with the Public Health Acts that had condemned 'back-to-back' housing. They were built in long rows with entrances to the back through common passages, built over on upper floors. Though they were an improvement on the previous houses, they didn’t look that attractive - lots of tunnel-backs meant endless rows of dreary monotonous housing. George Cadbury decided not to go for tunnel-backs because it limited the amount of light in the houses. Instead he chose rectangular cottages, each one with a large garden. In 1895, 143 cottages were built on the land he had bought privately, a total of 140 acres. The first houses were built in straight rows with no more than four houses in a terrace, but this soon gave way to more interesting layouts. Bournville was developed to be a 'garden village' and these were the guiding principles... Cottages grouped in pairs, threes or sometimes fours. Groups were set back from tree-lined roads, each house with its own front garden and vegetable garden with fruit trees at the back. All cottages were well built with light airy rooms and good sanitation. A typical cottage had a parlour, living room and kitchen downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs. Some early houses didn’t have bathrooms, but it was easy to add them later on. Houses should cost at least £150 to build: they were to house 'honest, sober, thrifty workmen, rather than the destitute or very poor'. Building was restricted on each plot to prevent gardens being overshadowed and keep the rural feel. The first houses were sold on leases of 999 years to keep the rural appearance of the district: mortgages were available for would-be purchasers. Bournville’s green environment reflected the aim of George Cadbury that one-tenth of the Estate should be 'laid out and used as parks, recreation grounds and open space.’ It attracted great interest from housing reformers, including the Garden City Association. In fact George Cadbury was instrumental in developing the Garden City Movement along with other reformers, including Sir Ebenezer Howard, who founded the Association in 1900 and was the father of modern town planning. He once said that Bournville gave him the drive to carry out his ideas. The first Garden City, Letchworth, was begun in 1902. Bournville became included within the boundary of the city of Birmingham in 1911, so it’s now a 'garden suburb', like Hampstead Garden Suburb in London.

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