Business Studies Trip To Cadbury's World

Published by Abbotsholme School on Wednesday 21st of June 2023

Our Year 10 Business Studies pupils travelled to Cadbury’s World Bournville in Birmingham on Thursday 15th June.

Before departure all pupils were introduced into the Year 11 topics of Organic and Inorganic growth as Cadbury is an excellent case study to teach these topics with their parent company Mondelez International merging and taking over many businesses and Cadbury’s commitment to product development and research into a chocolate bar which is a little easier on the waste line. The story of Cadbury’s supply chain was then told from cocoa bean farming to the manufacturing and distribution of their broad product range around the world.

Students got to sample different chocolate bars, have a go at writing their names in chocolate and finally attempted to temper chocolate. It became very apparent how much skill and talent chocolatiers possess.

The students were shown how Cadbury was founded and how it changed ownership types through the years starting out as a sole trader, moving to a partnership and then expanding further into a private limited company and now a public limited company. There were strong links to Human Resource Management throughout the day. Cadbury were and are an excellent employer, who value and look after their members of staff. However it is inevitable that as automation and technology continue to advance the number of workers has been reduced on the production line.

It is an interesting case study in terms of business location. At the moment, Cadbury operate three different factories and they accept it themselves that it would be far more efficient to have all areas of manufacturing on one site. However, commitment to their Bournville home is ever present with new investment in research and development plus the worry about negatively impacting on their brand image if they moved. I hope this trip will stick in our students' minds and give them a real life experience to discuss in their essays which will improve their understanding, analysis and evaluation, ultimately leading to a better grade.