King Charles Gives Iconic Candy Company The Boot

Cadbury brand chocolates have borne an image of the Royal Arms for 170 years, but in recent days, King Charles III has ended that candy’s reign. In a shakeup that’s surprised much of Britain, Charles has pulled Cadbury’s royal warrant, an honor intended to indicate that the company is a supplier to England’s ruling family. The brand, a favorite of Queen Victoria’s, is now out in the cold, as is Unilever, the vast British conglomerate that owns companies including Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, the Axe fragrance (?) line, and self-proclaimed “cosmetics cop” Paula Begoun’s skincare line.

As Buckingham Palace explains, royal warrants (full name: royal marks of appointment) are “a mark of recognition to people or companies who have regularly supplied goods or services to the Royal Household.” It’s a distinction granted to about 800 companies and makers from around the globe, giving them the right to display the royal family’s Coat of Arms in relation to its business. Typically, you’ll see it on packaging, a company website, or on its delivery vehicles; as you can imagine, strict rules exist about its display and use.

But similar to a Michelin star, this isn’t a lifetime approval. “Warrants may not be renewed if the quality or supply for the product or service is insufficient,” Buckingham Palace notes, and it “may be cancelled at any time and is automatically reviewed if the Grantee dies or leaves the business, or if the firm goes bankrupt or is sold.”

It’s unclear how Cadbury ran afoul of King Charles, who announced the second set of warrants earlier this month after his coronation in 2023. Conspicuous in its absence from the list (which can be read in full online) were Cadbury, which was first granted its warrant in 1854, and Unilever, a warrant-holder since 2016.

Both Unilever and Cadbury’s parent company, Chicago-based Mondelez International, have been the focus of boycotts and ban campaigns in recent years, over the companies’ business ties with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Groups including the International Partnership for Human Rights, sent an open letter to Charles this summer, asking specifically that he “revoke the Royal Warrants from all warrant-holding companies that are continuing their operations in Russia,” as doing so would show that “that companies contributing to the suffering and devastation in Ukraine will not be bestowed with the privilege and honour of holding a Royal Warrant.”

According to the Independent, the issue might be less about politics and more about the planet. Charles is known as an environmental crusader and a fan of organic and sustainable food, both interests that seem at odds with multinational corporations focused on ultra-processed goods. That might be why, as the paper puts it, “the supply of Cadbury products to royal households has decreased in recent years.” (The late Queen Elizabeth, we should note, was known as a fan of the company’s Bournville dark chocolate bar.)

Speaking with the BBC, Birmingham Business School professor David Bailey notes that being dropped from the list isn’t just a status thing, and can have a real impact on a company’s bottom line. Costs following the change will include redesigns for packaging to remove the insignia from all goods, as well as across-the-board revisions to advertising and marketing materials.

Via statement, Unilever said it is “very proud of the long history our brands have supplying the royal household and of the warrants they have been awarded during this time, most recently by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” but did not respond to questions regarding its business in Russia.

Mondelez’s response on behalf of Cadbury was slightly more pointed, “Whilst we are disappointed to be one of hundreds of other businesses and brands in the UK to not have a new warrant awarded, we are proud to have previously held one, and we fully respect the decision.”

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