THE MILK OF HUMAN KINDNESS: A Tale of Chocolate & Business Ethics

Really, only I could turn something so lusciously self indulgent as chocolate into a social justice tale, but here we are, I am who I am. Also, when a story so rich with the milk of human kindness comes my way I can’t help but spread it around. Now, when considering the intersection between chocolate and social justice, there are many avenues I could take - but today I would like to champion two examples of how to do things right, rather than a cautionary tale. Highlighting two transatlantic success stories, that combined good, humane business practices with remarkable professional success.

Our story begins in the sleepy English countryside known as The Midlands, in 1824, the height of the Industrial Revolution. If you’ve been reading my work for a while, you’ll remember my criticism of the Industrial Revolution from my piece on the Arts and Crafts Movement.

The son of a wealthy Quaker business family, John Cadbury, opened a tea, coffee and chocolate shop in Birmingham, that would grow to become an icon of English confection. Quakers in England at this time were not allowed by law to go to university, and by religious observance to join the army, leaving business & industry as the only avenue for Quakers to make a living. Due to their egalitarian principles and discretionary lifestyles, many Quakers amassed large fortunes, though you would never tell by the standards of wealthy individuals of their era. You could say that Quakers were the first influencers for the reserved, and discreet standards of old money or “quiet luxury” we know today - choosing to invest in people and things that last, over showy ostentatiousness. John Cadbury was every inch the Quaker of his time.

In 1849 Cadbury launched their solidified chocolate “bar,” an innovation on the previously only drinkable cocoa chocolate, and gained a warrant to Queen Victoria as her official chocolate supplier (a great honor in British society). However, it was under the management of John’s sons, George & Richard, that the business soared to new heights. In the 1860s due to competition, the company was struggling to be profitable still selling tea, coffee, and their now popular chocolate. The brothers chose to narrow their focus on their successful chocolate product category, and the company quickly rebounded (a lesson in entrepreneurship!). Forseeing the need for expansion of their chocolate enterprise, the brothers looked to the countryside for space to grow their company. The brothers invested in a large tract of land outside of Birmingham, centrally located between the canals and railways for transport - they called this estate, Bournville. At this site they built their factory known as Bournbrook Hall, and built an entire village to house and support their employees. Bournville, as a model or “garden” village (in the States, we would call this a housing development project), is still exemplary in terms of business & landlord management to this day. Unlike the cramped, damp, cost-cutting tenement housing of their day, Bournville was a picture-perfect village with beautiful homes and amenities like schools, parks, and swimming baths. George Cadbury believed in spending his money to build a “factory within a garden” to “alleviate the evils of modern, more cramped living conditions”. He and his brother were firm believers in investing in their employees for the advancement of the business, and they were absolutely right! Cadbury as a company thrived, with innovation after innovation, dominating the chocolate confection industry in Britain and becoming a national icon of British food to this day.

Following in Cadbury’s footsteps, the great American chocolatier Milton Hershey, founded Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894 and launched it’s now famous chocolate bar in 1900. In 1903 Milton Hershey founded the town of Hershey in Pennsylvania to house and care for the employees of his company. Hershey was inspired by Bournville, and invested in advanced amenities, like electricity and central heating years and even decades before that was commonplace in America, determined to put his best into his people, so in turn, his company would thrive. Thrive it did - with hugely successful products and an established identity as America’s chocolate company.

What makes both these legendary companies admirable to me, is the fact that it was through investing in their people, that caused their businesses thrived to the very top of their industries. Though you could argue that their decadent chocolate products also had something to do with that, that view misses the hundreds of similar business that failed or were bought out - a good business isn’t built on a good product, alone. In Cadbury’s case, much of their perspective on business ethics was rooted in Quaker egalitarianism. However, I feel that the fact that Hershey was so deeply inspire, a century later, to copy these principles independent of the religiosity speaks to the fundamental truth that acting with humanity is always the best policy. Sure, you could argue that many an industrial titan got to the top off the backs of their workers, but such companies are also always plagued by union strikes, disgruntled workers, and dogged by legal entanglements. Not exactly the kind of company anyone wants to own or work for, right? Businesses who take care of their employees are renowned for their employee satisfaction rates - places like Cadburys, Trader Joe, HEB (and sister company Central Market), Maisonette, and shout-out to another momma-run business that highlights maternal care with their employees, Hill House Home. And as these business prove, it’s not that hard to simply provide for the needs of your employees - we’re not talking about pizza parties that go with 80-hour work weeks, we are talking about family leave, reasonable work hours, childcare assistance, legal contracts and clear paths to advancement. Imagine the transformation if Apple had turned San Jose, CA, into a company-provided community to foster and care for their corporate workforce? The mind boggles. The overriding lesson to be learned is this: the path to lasting success is paved with ethical choices. When you respect the people around you - your employees, tenants, customers, manufacturing partners, investors, etc - they respect you and willingly contribute to the collective good.

Though both Cadbury and Hershey have devolved from their nobler aspects in recent decades through buy-outs & corporate expansion, by automating their processes and criticism for unhealthy ingredients, we can all learn from the principles they were founded on - and maybe even these companies themselves can take a page from their own heritage, for the wellbeing of all moving forward.