Cadbury supports England’s independent chocolatiers

The past year has been incredibly challenging for the Great British High Street, especially for independent chocolatiers. Research from Simply Business, a business insurance firm, has revealed losses of £69 Billion to small business in the UK. Two fifths of shops have closed or are at threat of permanently closing.

#ForTheLoveOfChocolate is our latest campaign for Cadbury, which calls to the British public to show their support for independent high street chocolatiers. As lockdown restrictions begin to ease and shops start to reopen, we've asked customers to forego buying a bar of Cadbury Dairy Milk and instead opt for a bar from an independent chocolate shop. 

Cadbury originated as an independent chocolate shop on Birmingham’s Bull Street in 1824. Due to Cadbury's independent roots, the enforced closure s of shops inspired them to help independent chocolatiers stay open. #ForTheLoveOfChocolate will see Cadbury partner with six independent high street chocolate shops across the country including Hill Street in Essex; Chouchoute in Birmingham; Choc on Choc in Bath; Melange in London; Cocoa Amore in Leicester and Cocoa Cabana in Manchester. 

Chouchoute opened its own chocolatier in 2002, just a stone’s throw from the original Cadbury store in Birmingham. Chouchoute was hit extremely hard by by the pandemic, managing to still exist purely through its online presence, was unfortunately forced to close its shop doors after 18 years of trading. 

To raise awareness and help promote Britain's independent chocolatiers, we have re-worked the iconic TVC 'Mum's Birthday' campaign to feature a Chouchoute branded chocolate bar instead. The campaign includes a special call to action asking the public to help high street chocolate shops during this tough time. 

Cadbury are also utilising their e-commerce site Cadbury Gifts Direct, to push consumers towards the six independent partners by featuring them on their site and offering them the chance to try the chocolate for free. Cadbury will also donate almost half a million pounds of OOH and DOOH advertising space outdoors  near each independent shop location, as well as digital spend to help  drive traffic and awareness.

Colin O’Toole, Associate Director of Marketing for Cadbury UK and Ireland at Mondelez, said: “We are proud to be supporting local chocolatiers across the UK. As a nation, we’ve always been lucky to have a thriving chocolate scene, full of variety and creativity; and at Cadbury, we of course understand what it’s like to start out as a small independent chocolate shop. So, we wanted to take the opportunity to support our fellow chocolatiers and ask the nation to do the same. After all, it’s all for the love of chocolate.”