Reality

Much to my disappointment, Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory does not exist. However, we have been provided with a substitute in the form of Cadbury World. Located in Birmingham, it is an exciting experience for all the family.

A few years ago, a weekend away resulted in a surprise visit to Cadbury World with the rest of my family. Unfortunately, there had been confusion over our booking for the tour, and so after an awkward five minutes trying to figure out what we were going to do, we were approached by a member of staff with five carrier bags packed full of free chocolate. She informed us that instead of having to wait a few hours for a slot, that we were going to be put to the front of the queue for the self-guided exhibition tour, to make up for their mistake. Well you can imagine the reaction that this news brought.

So off we went to begin our Cadbury journey, which proved itself to be a wonderful experience. I remember that as we travelled along, all you could smell was chocolate. By the time we had finished, there wasn't much left of the chocolate that we had been given. The tour presented us with interesting facts about the development of the company in Bourneville, as well as displays of handcrafted chocolate objects. I'm not sure if it is still there, but when we visited, one display held a miniature version of a well-known street that you would recognise from the following advert.



If you ever get the chance to go to Cadbury World I would seriously recommend it. There are many different zones which are packed with information about the origins of chocolate and the history of the company. Visitors can explore areas such as the Aztec Jungle, The Cadbury Story and The Bourneville Experience. It was interesting to learn about how Cadbury’s developed as a business, where employees were treated like members of a community. They were provided with housing and other benefits such as health care and paid holidays. At the time, Cadbury was the only company to offer these sorts of benefits to their workers, which made the Bourneville factory a very popular place to work. Here is a short film about Richard and George Cadbury's small idea, which turned into a huge success. Although it is quite long, it is definitely worth watching. I found that it highlights the benefits that the company offered, as well as discussing the manufacturing process of the chocolate.



Watching the television last night, a particular advert caught my attention. In honour of the 2012 Olympics, Cadbury has launched their own Golden Tickets with a chance for lucky finders to win tickets to watch the events. Not quite a trip to the most amazing chocolate factory ever imagined, but I guess it can be considered a close second.