Chocolate, chocolate everywhere, at Cadbury World, UK. Photo / Cadbury World
Chocolate, chocolate everywhere, at Cadbury World, UK. Photo / Cadbury World
Chocolate giant Cadbury turns 200 this year, but in New Zealand, competitor Whittaker’s is undaunted by the attention its larger rival will receive. Julia Hammond explores the relationship between the two companies.
Chocolate lovers, it’s a good year to visit the neighbourhood of Bournville in Birmingham, England. Its most famous company, Cadbury, celebrates its bicentenary this year. But, although you’ll have heard of Cadbury, you might not realise that without it, our much-loved New Zealand brand Whittaker’s might not exist.
James Henry Whittaker’s name is familiar throughout the country, but he was an Englishman. His early life was nothing out of the ordinary and there were certainly no clues to suggest the successful business he would later create. Whittaker was born in Manchester in 1868 into a working-class family. Soon after, they moved to Macclesfield and later Birmingham where as a teen, he found work as an errand boy for a jeweller.
Perhaps it was during one of these errands that Whittaker discovered an opening at Cadbury’s chocolate factory in the leafy suburb of Bournville. Whatever the reason, within a couple of years he had started down a path that would transform his life. For at least six years until 1890, Whittaker learned all there was to know about chocolate manufacturing.
No 1 Lodge, the original Cadbury factory in Birmingham. Photo / Getty Image
As a young apprentice, he’d have been taught how winnowing separates the roasted nibs from their skins. He’d have learned about the grinding and rolling process that creates the rich cocoa liquor that’s still the vital ingredient to every chocolate bar that leaves the factory. Even today, this is what gives Whittaker’s’ chocolate its signature smoothness, especially when it is blended with creamy New Zealand milk.
Whittaker’s time with Cadbury served him well. But he had itchy feet, and the lure of opportunities in the Southern Hemisphere was too strong to resist. He embarked on a two-month voyage — not unlike the journey the cocoa beans still make from Ghana where they’re grown. After a pit stop in Sydney, Whittaker arrived in New Zealand in June 1890 and took up a position as a salesman for Cadbury. The job would have given him the opportunity to suss out the market in his new home.
Six years later, ambitious and driven, Whittaker set up his own company in Christchurch. There, he hawked his products from a horse-drawn cart. You won’t be surprised to learn that his chocolate was well received. Around the turn of the century, Whittaker was able to open a factory in Wellington. Putting his own stamp on the beans-to-bar routine that he’d picked up in Bournville, he created the quality product we still know and love.
Today, Whittaker’s is New Zealand’s second-largest chocolate brand after Cadbury. The company’s still family owned, with production now based in Porirua. The emphasis is on smooth, creamy chocolate made right here on home turf — and nothing beats that.
But if you find yourself in the UK, you might consider taking a walking tour of Bournville. George Cadbury, son of the founder, was a philanthropic Quaker and the area is a testament to his vision of creating a “factory within a garden”. Together with his brother Richard, George bought up land away from what was then the dirty, congested centre of Birmingham. They oversaw the construction of properties with gardens, each with a fruit tree, built swimming pools and laid out sports fields, understanding the value of exercise and being outdoors. Unlike other such developments, like Saltaire in Yorkshire, it was open to anyone, not just Cadbury workers.
Chocolate fun at Cadbury World, UK. Photo / Cadbury World
J.H. Whittaker would most likely have seen the first phase of housing George Cadbury built, though it was demolished a few decades later to make way for a factory extension. But much of the project survives and is centred on a pretty village green. Don’t miss George Cadbury’s beloved Carillon, which he had installed after admiring one in the Belgian city of Bruges, and Selly Manor Museum, which was a Tudor property that originally stood in nearby Selly Oak. Tours of the area run at intermittent intervals, but you can always download a copy of the Bournville Heritage Trail map and take a self-guided walk.
Bournville’s distinctive architecture sets it apart from the area’s top-ranked visitor attraction, Cadbury World, a modern glass building that stands alongside the main factory. Outside, sniff the air: there’s often a waft of cocoa on the breeze. But it’s what happens inside that’s important. Ideally suited to younger children, every aspect of chocolate making, from growing cacao to the manufacturing process, is brought to life. There are fun rides, interactive quizzes and themed exhibits that make this place as entertaining as it is educational.
Chocolate, chocolate everywhere, at Cadbury World, UK. Photo / Cadbury World
As you taste the creamy Cadbury chocolate and feel it melt on your tongue (and let’s be clear, UK Cadbury is very different from Australian Cadbury) it isn’t hard to see what captivated the young J.H. Whittaker and gave him the motivation to make his mark in New Zealand. But to draw an accurate conclusion about which brand of chocolate is best, I recommend you try them both again — just to be sure.
Details
Air NZ, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways fly from Auckland to London Heathrow Airport with one stopover.
Once there, travel by rail from London’s Euston train station to Birmingham New Street. The fastest journey time is 1 hour 16 minutes, making this an easy day trip. At Birmingham New Street, connect to a local train bound for Bournville (12 minutes, several departures every hour), which is within walking distance of Cadbury World.
An adult ticket for Cadbury World starts at £18.95 (about NZ$40) with discounts for children and families.
