Cadbury has committed to green issues for more than a century.
Bournville itself was set up to offer healthier and cleaner housing for its residents, providing the blueprint for the Garden City movement of the 20th century.
George and Richard Cadbury created their Factory in a Garden in the 1870s. They moved the business out of the smoke-filled city centre and settling on land next to the canal and new railway line four miles to the south which became known as Bournville.
That legacy continues today with Cadbury’s commitment to the environment – known as ‘Purple Goes Green.’ The global initiative includes the following commitments and targets:
* Fifty per cent reduction in net carbon emissions by 2020. Cadbury aims to reduce at least 30 per cent of this through saving energy and switching to renewable alternatives.
* Ten per cent reduction in primary packaging with a more stretching target of 25 per cent for seasonal and gift confectionery. The aim is to have at least 60 per cent biodegradable packaging by 2010.
* One hundred per cent of Cadbury’s ‘water scarce’ sites across the world to have water reduction programmes in place.
Already the Purple Goes Green initiative has been recognised by industry experts.
Recently, Business in the Community awarded Cadbury with the prestigious Climate Change Award and the Responsible Marketing Innovation Award.
The latter award recognised our 2008 Easter strategy, where we introduced foil-only wrapped ‘Eco Eggs’ which achieved significant packaging reductions.
Cadbury also invested £1 million in support of the National Trust Easter Egg Trails across 200 National Trust sites in the UK.
It’s not just the company that is committed to ‘going green.’
Approximately 25 per cent of all Cadbury colleagues across the UK volunteer their time to the local community.
This includes working with industry experts such as The National Trust and Wildlife Trust to protect the local environment.
That is just what colleagues at Cadbury World did at St Mary’s Hospice. An 18-month project with the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust, green-fingered Cadbury colleagues worked with the Wildlife Trust to create a wildlife garden at the hospice for patients and staff to enjoy.
Having raised £1,300, they also funded garden furniture and benches for staff and patients, butterfly houses, insect boxes and bird boxes to help the wildlife flourish.
Ann Jolly, from the visitor operations team at Cadbury World, managed the project with more than 20 colleagues over the 18-month project. She said: “There is a great sense of achievement amongst the team now that we can see the result of our hard work.
“Working with the Wildlife Trust has been fantastic and they have helped us all understand how to help our local environment.
“Although we have completed the garden, the task is by no means over; we will be coming back to the garden regularly to tidy up, plant new seeds and check on local wildlife. I hope the staff, patients and visitors get as much pleasure out of it as we did.”
