
Our principal businesses are confectionery and non-alcoholic beverages. We have the largest share of the global confectionery market with broad participation across its three categories of chocolate, gum and candy and by geography. In beverages, we have strong regional presences in North America and Australia.
Our origins date back to the founding of Schweppes, a mineral water business, by Jacob Schweppes in 1783, and the opening of a shop which sold cocoa products by John Cadbury in 1824. The two businesses were merged in 1969 to create Cadbury Schweppes plc. Many of our key brands are long established, having been launched in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most notably Cadbury Dairy Milk, Dr Pepper and Halls.
| Brand | Product | Date launched |
|---|---|---|
| Cadbury | Cocoa powder | 1824 |
| Bassett's | Candy | 1842 |
| Maynards | Candy | 1880 |
| Halls Cough Tablets | Cough drop | 1893 |
| Dentyne | Gum | 1899 |
| Cadbury Dairy Milk | Milk chocolate bar | 1905 |
| Chiclets | Sugar-coated gum | 1914 |
| Clorets | Breath freshener | 1951 |
| Stimorol | Gum | 1956 |
| Trident | Sugar-free gum | 1962 |
| Bubblicious | Bubble gum | 1977 |
| Sour Patch Kids | Candy | 1985 |
| Brand | Product | Date Launched |
|---|---|---|
| Schweppes | Carbonated water | 1783 |
| Mott's | Apple juice | 1842 |
| Schweppes Tonic Water | Quinine-based carbonated drink | 1870 |
| Dr Pepper | Carbonated soft drink | 1885 |
| 7 UP | Carbonated soft drink | 1929 |
| Hawaiian Punch | Non-carbonated soft drink | 1937 |
| Clamato | Tomato-based drink | 1969 |
| Snapple | Non-carbonated soft drink | 1972 |
Over the last 25 years we have significantly changed our geographic and product participation within the confectionery and beverages markets, mainly through a programme of acquisitions and disposals.
We have extended and strengthened our position in certain markets and categories where we believed we could generate faster growth at higher margins, and exited other markets and categories where we felt we had no sustainable competitive advantage and where a sale created value for our shareowners.
The most significant strategic moves over this period have been:
Following the sale of Europe Beverages which completed on 2 February 2006, we now have four regional operating units: Americas Beverages; Americas Confectionery; Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), which sells confectionery; and Asia Pacific, selling both beverages and confectionery.
In 2006, we purchased a number of US bottling businesses to strengthen our route-to-market for our US beverages business. Our confectionery acquisitions in 2006 are discussed overleaf.
In October 2005, we announced that we intended to dispose of a number of small non-core businesses and brands with estimated proceeds of between £250 million and £300 million. We sold Holland House Cooking Wines in 2005, and Grandma's Molasses in early 2006. The combined proceeds were £37 million. In April 2006, we sold Slush Puppie for £13 million, and in August 2006, we completed the sale of Bromor Foods, our South African beverages business for ZAR 1,160 billion (£109 million). We have also announced that we intend to sell the Monkhill and Allan Candy confectionery businesses, which are based in the UK and Canada respectively, and the Cottee's Foods jams, marmalades and toppings business in Australia.