John Cadbury (12 August 1801 – 11 May 1889) was proprietor of a small chocolate business in Birmingham, England, that later became part of Cadbury plc, one of the world's largest chocolate producers. He developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate - creating the modern chocolate bar.
John Cadbury was born in Birmingham to Richard Tapper Cadbury, who was from a wealthy Quaker family that moved to the area from the west of England. As a Quaker in the early 19th century, he was not allowed to enter a university, so could not pursue a profession such as medicine or law. As Quakers are pacifist, a military career was also out of the question. So, like many other Quakers of the time, he turned his energies toward business and began a campaign against animal cruelty, forming the Animals Friend Society, a forerunner of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Meanwhile, Cadbury’s manufacturing enterprise prospered, his brother Benjamin joined the business in 1847 and they rented a larger factory on Bridge Street. Two years later, in 1849, the Cadbury brothers pulled out of the retail business, leaving it in the hands of John's son, Richard Cadbury Barrow. (Barrow's remained a leading Birmingham store until the 1960s.)
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