Focused on performance
2008 was a year of significant development for Cadbury. We transformed our business, evolved our organisation model and started to implement major restructuring and reconfiguration. I am very pleased that during this eventful period, our people maintained their focus on performance and delivered against our strategic plan.
Introduced in June 2007, our Vision into Action (VIA) business plan sets out a bold agenda with the clear vision of becoming the world’s biggest and best confectionery company. This aspiration, built around developing a strong total confectionery model, is supported by clear objectives, priorities and a financial performance scorecard. The strategy is underpinned by a strong focus on sustainability, culture and purpose that unifies the actions and objectives of the 45,000 people who work in Cadbury.
The governing objective of our plan is to achieve superior shareholder returns through delivering our performance scorecard.
We are now 18 months into implementing our VIA. A lot of progress has already been made and I will share with you some of the major developments.
In the strategic review, I will cover:
In the review you will also find a more detailed overview of our markets, businesses and approach to management:
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The world of confectionery
A brief review of our markets, recent industry developments and the drivers of growth in our category and markets
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Our Vision into Action
A more detailed review of our strategic plan and the key elements of our performance scorecard
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Our operations
Recent developments in our organisation together with a description of our businesses
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Our sustainability commitments
A summary of our Corporate Social Responsibility agenda including our achievements in 2008
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Our approach to risk management
In uncertain economic conditions it is even more important that we retain a strong focus on risk management. We have included a section on how we manage risk and the key links to our strategy and performance