E. Wedel (pronunciation: ) is a Polish confectionery company, which has been producing a variety of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

s, cakes, and snacks since 1851. Wedel is also a well-recognized

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

of candy in Poland, considered to be the "Polish national chocolate brand" in that market, and is the leading candy brand among Polish producers with about 14% of the Polish market in 2005 and 11.7% in 2007. In June 2010

Kraft Foods Inc Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell H ...

sold Wedel to

Lotte Group Lotte Corporation (or Lotte Group) is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation, and the fifth-largest chaebol in South Korea. Lotte began its history on June 28, 1948, by Korean businessman Shin Kyuk-ho in Tokyo. Shin expa ...

, a South Korean-Japanese conglomerate, as part of their enforced divestment program of certain parts of the

Cadbury plc Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

which it acquired in March 2010.

History

Founded in 1851 by Karl Ernst (Karol Ernest) Wedel (1813-1902), the company and its products became known in most of Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. The logo of the company is based on Emil Wedel's signature. His son Emil Albert Fryderyk Wedel (1841-1919) apprenticed in candy and chocolate factories in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

before inheriting and expanding his father's business. His descendant Jan Wedel (d. 1960), the last member of the Wedel family to own the company, was considered "the

Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprietor ...

" of pre-war Poland. In 1894 the company moved its main factory to Szpitalna street in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. In 1930, during the time of the Great Depression, Jan Wedel opened a second factory in

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

, one of the most modern in the Second Polish Republic. The company was also known for its very generous social welfare policies. As one of the first in Europe, it had its own crèche, kindergarten, hospital and cafeteria, and rewarded its best employees with interest-free housing loans; its model was highly acclaimed by the

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...

. Hence prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Wedel became a successful private company, with shops in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Jan Wedel made plans for World War II, and the company managed to continue production during the first few years of the war; it also started producing basic foodstuffs such as bread for starving Warsaw, and was the site of the underground teaching.Historia Wedla
/ref> Despite the family's German ancestry Wedel refused to

collaborate Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, and did not sign the Volksliste; increasingly this led to him and his employees being persecuted by the Nazis. The war devastated Poland and the company; the buildings at Warsaw were destroyed during the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

. After the war, Wedel rebuilt the factory, only to have the

communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

nationalize Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

the company. The Wedel plant itself was renamed '22 Lipca' (22 July) after the Communist 'Independence Day' (

PKWN Manifesto The Manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation, also known as the July Manifesto () or the PKWN Manifesto (), was a political manifesto of the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN), a Soviet-backed administration, which ...

), although even the communists chose to retain the Wedel

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, with products bearing both the new and old logos (particularly as after 10 years of not using the logo, all attempts at exporting proved futile). The company was reprivatized in 1989 after the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

in Poland. In 1991 it was bought by PepsiCo Foods and Beverages, at which time sales were about $50–$60 million. In 1995 sales exceeded $200 million. About 10% of the products are exported, primarily to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The Warsaw facility employed 1,100 workers in 1998.

Cadbury-Wedel Polska

Staroświecki Sklep Wedla Szpitalna 8 Warszawa

InterContinental Warszawa - pijalnia czekolady E

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

made its initial investment in Poland in 1993, constructing a chocolate plant for its own products in Bielany Wrocławskie. In 1999, Cadbury bought E. Wedel and the factory in Praga, from PepsiCo for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

76.5 million."PepsiCo sells Wedel's chocolate business" ''Candy Industry'', October 1, 1998
Retrieved on January 24, 2008. The Praga factory was modernised in 2007, with investment in both new laboratories and office space, as well as a new production line for the brand's flagship product

Ptasie Mleczko Ptasie mleczko () or Bird's milk is a Central European confectionery originating in Poland. It is a small, chocolate-covered bar with a soft marshmallow-like interior. Bird's milk is one of the most recognized chocolate confectioneries in Poland, ...

, a chocolate candy with a

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...

like centre. In 2007, as part of the

Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of Wa ...

Special Economic Zone, Cadbury-Wedel Polska started building a £100m

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/ plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its t ...

plant in

Skarbimierz Skarbimierz (german: Hermsdorf) is a village in Brzeg County (Brieg), Opole Voivodeship (Oppeln), in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Skarbimierz. It lies approximately south-west of Brzeg ...

. It presently produces brands such as Trident, Stimorol, V6, and Hollywood. The company also acquired rights to an additional plot which in 2009 it started to develop as a new chocolate facility, which would take over production of brands previously made at the

Somerdale Factory Somerdale was a chocolate factory located in Keynsham near Bristol in South-west England, closed by Kraft foods in 2011. It was the home of a Cadbury plc production facility, and was originally built by the Fry family when they expanded through ...

in Keynsham,

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

from 2011. In 2008, Cadbury received the accolade of “Most Significant Investor in Poland” from the Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. In recent years the company has also branched out, opening a series of chocolate shops based on pre-war tradition.

Lotte ownership

In March 2010

acquired

. The European Commission insisted that Wedel be sold in order for the takeover to go ahead as a combined Kraft/Cadbury-Wedel would have too large a share of the Polish confectionery market. To satisfy this demand Wedel was sold to Lotte of South Korea in June 2010. This was Lotte's first investment in Europe although they are the 3rd largest chewing gum maker in the world and a large player in the Asian confectionery market. Kraft Foods have kept the rights to the Cadbury, Halls, and other brands along with two plants manufacturing Cadbury products in

Popular products

Ptasie mleczko Ptasie mleczko () or Bird's milk is a Central European confectionery originating in Poland. It is a small, chocolate-covered bar with a soft marshmallow-like interior. Bird's milk is one of the most recognized chocolate confectioneries in Poland, ...

- chocolate covered marshmallow * Mieszanka Wedlowska - assorted chocolate covered candy with a variety of fillings * Torcik Wedlowski - a large, circular, chocolate covered wafer with hand-made decorations * Pawełek - chocolate bar with a flavored filling that contains a small amount of alcohol * Krówka - individually wrapped milky cream fudge candy * Delicje Szampańskie - circular cookies with sponge base, mound of jam, and covered with chocolate (also known as

Jaffa cakes Jaffa Cakes are a cake introduced by McVitie and Price in the UK in 1927 and named after Jaffa oranges. The most common form of Jaffa cakes are circular, in diameter and have three layers: a Genoise sponge base, a layer of orange flavoured ...

)

References

* Mieczysław Kozłowski, ''The Story of E. Wedel. How Poland’s Chocolate History was Made'', Kraków 2004.

External links