Cadbury Schweppes said today its business in Britain grew by 5% during 2007, thanks partly to the relaunch of Wispa and the “gorilla” ad campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk.
Cadbury said the 5% growth was broadly in line with the overall confectionery market, which benefited from a good recovery in chocolate following its product recall and the hot summer of 2006, as well as a 16% growth in the chewing gum market following the launch of Trident early in the year.
The company added: “Our overall share performance strengthened in the second half despite the adverse impact of flooding at our Sheffield factory on candy revenues.
“In chocolate, revenues in the second half benefited from the successful relaunch of Wispa and our new advertising campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk.
“Our gum business secured a 10% share of the UK gum market in its first year, and accounted for the majority of the growth in the gum market during the year.”
Globally, Cadbury Schweppes reported revenues up 7% to £7.97bn.
But underlying pre-tax profits were down by 2% to £915m.
