Cadbury boss makes veiled attack on Kraft’s brand of capitalism

Cadbury CEO Todd Stitzer told a fair trade conference in London on Thursday that taking away its “principled capitalism” would destroy Cadbury’s appeal, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

The company’s popular Dairy Milk chocolate recently gained Fairtrade certification, and has been seen as a great boost for the company.

Although he did not mention Kraft, Stitzer was quoted as saying: “We see this principled capitalism, which has been woven into the very fabric of Cadbury over the course of almost two centuries, as fundamental to our ways of working and part of our identity and success. Take it away or dilute it and you risk destroying what makes Cadbury a great company.”

He added: “It is true that unbridled capitalism can be a destructive beast, not just to those it does business with but to the company itself. History shows that those who operate in this way inevitably come undone. They over-leverage and under-invest to the detriment of the whole enterprise. The recent past has presented numerous examples, which all business leaders and shareholders would do well to learn from."

To read the full Guardian ​article, click here​.

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