Our classic bar of deliciously creamy Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate, made with fresh milk. A mouthful of “mmmm” in every piece!
It is the Slogan of Dairy milk Chocolate from Cadbury Company.
In 1948, Cadbury began its operations in India, and today has become a household name. Cadbury India, a very significant player in the chocolate category, has a share of about 70% in the Indian chocolate market.
As of 2003, thirty million bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars are bought every month. In June 2003, Business World ranked Cadbury among the Best Workplaces in India and it was the only multinational to be identified as one of India’s Best Managed Companies by Business Today 1. This made the company’s relationship with its customers stronger and credible in spite of a go-slow in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector in India.
Although Cadbury provided about 700,000 shopkeepers with coolers and metallic dispensers to store the chocolate properly, it could not ensure all retailers handled the products appropriately.
In October that same year, worms were reported to be in some Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars in Bangalore. Cadbury India encountered a media onslaught which resulted in decreasing sales brought on by complains of worms in some of its chocolate bars. The company needed to respond swiftly to the crisis, although the problem was as a result of storage at the retail level which was out of Cadbury’s direct control. However, Cadbury’s challenge was the lack of experience in dealing with a public opinion crisis.
On October 16, local members of a political party descended on the company headquarters. Cadbury had been a part of India for a very long time, so the anti-Cadbury sentiment took the company by surprise and left disconcerted. The damage to impression was created that every bar of Cadbury’s chocolate was infested damage to Cadbury’s public image was severe; Cadbury’s business and reputation were at stake, as was internal employee morale.
In effect, Cadbury took their advertisement off the air and launched and educational PR project targeted at their retailers. It also gave the media updates through press releases on measures they were taking to correct its manufacturing and storage facilities and processes. Cadbury further imported new machinery and rebranded their chocolate bars. Further, Cadbury quickly conducted 200 consumers in 7 cities. It depicted that consumers’ behaviour had been adversely affected and they did not want to take the risk of consuming Cadbury chocolates.
Six years after a Bengaluru man approached a consumer court - seeking ₹50 lakh as compensation after finding worms in a chocolate bar purchased from a local store - he has been directed to the state consumer forum. The court said the relief sought was beyond its remit.
The case was filed under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 which only permits hearing of pleas up to ₹5 lakh. The revised 2019 act allows consumer courts to hear cases up to ₹1 crore but the case was filed before the law was revised.
After more than five years of court battle, the city consumer court gave out a verdict on April 8 this year and ordered that it has no ‘pecuniary jurisdiction’ to hear the 2016 complaint. The court further directed Kedia to take the case further at the state consumer court.
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