Cadbury's sweet brand success despite apology

Readers Digest's survey of Most Trusted Brands revealed that 54 per cent of respondents identified Cadbury as the most trusted brand of chocolate and confectionery, while 7 per cent voted for Galaxy, 5 per cent for Thorntons and 5 per cent for Green & Blacks. Respondents were invited to rate their most trusted brand from 1 - 5 in terms of quality, excellent value, strong image and understanding customer need. Green & Blacks achieved a mean quality score of 4.97, Galaxy had 4.85, Thorntons returned 4.75 and Cadbury a rating of 4.69. According to MarketingWeek​, Green & Blacks received the top quality score across the 38 product categories included in the survey. Cadbury's survey success was achieved despite about 40 people falling ill after eating chocolates containing crumb manufactured at one of the company's plants forcing the company to launch a £50m chocolate bar recall. A spokesman for Cadbury told ConfectioneryNews.com that the public understood that the salmonella scare was a mistake, sympathised and accepted our apology. Commenting on the survey, MarketingWeek​ said the results show that: "The 2006 health scare is well behind it (the company) - testament to the fact that brand health is determined much more by positive customer experience than negative media attention​." ​Best of the rest ​ After Cadbury, the most trusted confectionery brands were Galaxy (Mars), Thorntons and Green & Blacks which became part of Cadbury in 2005. Of the four brands, Galaxy achieved the best ratings for excellent value and strong image. Organic chocolate brand Green & Blacks led the field in understanding customer needs, reflecting consumers' increasing preference for organic confectionery. The online survey was conducted in 16 European countries and took place at the end of last year. In another European consumer survey, Euromonitor found that half of respondents thought organic food and drink was either important or very important. The organic finished product market is expected to grow by 32 per cent from 2006 - 2011, according to the company. In May 2008, ADM Cocoa introduced new procedures in its UK cocoa facilities enabling it to supply a new range of certified organic chocolate to its food industry customers.