Cadbury World is a visitor attraction in Bournville,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England, featuring a self-guided exhibition tour, created and run by the Cadbury Company. The tour tells the

history of chocolate The history of chocolate began in Mesoamerica. Fermented beverages made from chocolate date back to at least 1900 BC to 1500 BC. The Mexica believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, and the seeds once had so muc ...

, and of the Cadbury business. A second location in

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, New Zealand, closed in May 2018.

Birmingham

Overview

Cadbury World was opened on 14 August 1990 by Morgan Anderson on Cadbury's Bournville manufacturing site, and has expanded and developed its content through 'continuous improvement'. It was formally opened by then Prime Minister John Major on 12 April 1991. Cadbury World has gone on to become one of Birmingham's largest leisure attractions. Over 500,000 people visit there each year especially children and students. The estate features a respected education programme (linking back directly to the educational advancements and interests of the company's original founders). Cadbury World provides a Chocolate

afternoon tea Tea (in reference to food, rather than the drink) has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of va ...

. Whilst not a factory tour, Cadbury World offers its visitors the opportunity to explore and discover chocolate's history, and to learn about the origins and story of the Cadbury business, which is now part of

Mondelez Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...

, the world's second largest confectionery manufacturer. In 2022, it was announced that

Merlin Entertainments Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investme ...

were to take over the running of the attraction, subject to the approval of the

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Fourteen Zones

Cadbury World currently features 14 zones which tell the story of chocolate and the Cadbury business through various static sets, animatronics, video presentations, multi-sensory cinema, interactive displays and activities, and staff demonstrations. In August 2019, Heritage Interactive installed seven interactive panels in the Aztec Jungle. These zones also include "The Bournville Experience" (Opened in 2007 replacing the Cadbury Collection Museum), which explains the background to the development of the site on which it is located and "4D Chocolate Adventure", constructed in 2014 and replacing "Essence" which in turn replaced "Cadburyland" before it, and which incorporates a 3D cinema.

Dunedin

In July 2003 another Cadbury World was opened in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, located in the Cadbury Factory site at 280 Cumberland St, close to the city centre near the Octagon. Unlike the Cadbury World in Birmingham, it offered guided tours around the manufacturing area of the factory. In 2018, the factory closed. Despite plans to keep it open, Cadbury World was also closed that year, to make way for a new NZ$1.4 billion hospital to replace the existing

Dunedin Public Hospital Dunedin Hospital is the main public hospital in Dunedin, New Zealand. It serves as the major base hospital for the Otago and Southland regions with a potential catchment radius of roughly 300 kilometres, and a population of around 300,000. Opera ...

. Mondelez vice-president Banfield confirmed that the former Cadbury site had been sold to the Ministry of Heath for an undisclosed amount. It was reported that the closure of Cadbury World would lead to the loss of 39 jobs. During the demolition, business records from Hudson & Co from 1899 to 1988 were discovered in a cupboard. Hudson & Co amalgamated with Cadbury Fry in 1929.

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