E. Wedel

File:Fabryka Wedla Jeziorko Kamionkowskie.JPG district viewed from Kamionowski Lake]]

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. 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 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" of pre-war Poland.{{cite web|url= http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/sweet-warsaw |title=Sweet Warsaw |first=Mark |last=Bradshaw |work=Local Life Warsaw |accessdate=16 July 2020}} In 1894 the company moved its main factory to Szpitalna street in Warsaw. In 1930, during the time of the Great Depression, Jan Wedel opened a second factory in Praga, one of the most modern in the Second Polish Republic.{{cite web|url= https://wedelpijalnie.pl/o-nas/historia-marki-e-wedel |title=Historia marki E.Wedel |work=Wedel Pijalnie |language=pl |accessdate=16 July 2020}} 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.{{cite web |url= http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/4215396 |title=Czekoladowa Dynastia |publisher=Film Polski |accessdate=2011-12-06 }} Hence prior to World War II, Wedel became a successful private company, with shops in London and Paris.

File:Kamienica Emila Wedla w Warszawie p7.jpg

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.{{in lang|pl}} [http://www.katarzyna-stepniak.reaktywni.pl/historia_wedla.htm Historia Wedla] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915032847/http://www.katarzyna-stepniak.reaktywni.pl/historia_wedla.htm |date=2018-09-15 }} Despite the family's German ancestry Wedel refused to collaborate with the Germans, 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. After the war, Wedel rebuilt the factory, only to have the communist government nationalize the company. The Wedel plant itself was renamed '22 Lipca' (22 July) after the Communist 'Independence Day' (PKWN Manifesto), although even the communists chose to retain the Wedel brand name, 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 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.[http://www.allbusiness.com/wholesale-trade/merchant-wholesalers-nondurable/556589-1.html "PepsiCo sells Wedel's chocolate business" Candy Industry, October 1, 1998]. Retrieved on January 24, 2008. About 10% of the products are exported, primarily to the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. The Warsaw facility employed 1,100 workers in 1998.

File:Staroświecki Sklep Wedla Szpitalna 8 Warszawa.JPG

File:InterContinental Warszawa - pijalnia czekolady E.Wedel.jpg

File:Muzeum Fabryka Czekolady E. Wedel 2024a.jpg

Cadbury Schweppes 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$76.5 million.[http://www.allbusiness.com/wholesale-trade/merchant-wholesalers-nondurable/721142-1.html "PepsiCo sells Wedel's chocolate business" Candy Industry, October 1, 1998]. Retrieved on January 24, 2008.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DQA/is_1999_Feb_11/ai_53979727 "PepsiCo sells Wedel brand to Cadbury Schweppes" Eurofood, February 11, 1999]. 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, a chocolate candy with a marshmallow like centre.{{cite web|url= http://discoverpl.polacy.co.uk/art,cadbury_and_wedel_8211_a_sweet_investment,3574.html |title=Cadbury and Wedel – a Sweet Investment - Discover Poland Magazine - Travel, do business and invest in Poland! |publisher=Discoverpl.polacy.co.uk |accessdate=2010-06-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100125170416/http://discoverpl.polacy.co.uk/art%2Ccadbury_and_wedel_8211_a_sweet_investment%2C3574.html |archivedate=2010-01-25 }}

In 2007, as part of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone, Cadbury-Wedel Polska started building a £100m chewing gum plant in Skarbimierz.{{cite web|url=http://www.foodprocessing-technology.com/projects/cadbury/ |title=Cadbury Schweppes Confectionery Factory, Skarbimierz |publisher=Food Processing Technology |date=2009-02-10 |accessdate=2010-06-28}} It presently produces brands such as Trident, Stimorol, V6, and Hollywood. The company also acquired rights to an additional {{convert|60|acre|km2}} 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 in Keynsham, Bristol 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.{{cite news|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25101-2004Dec24.html |last=Haughney |first=Christine |title=Poland's Sweet Comeback |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=26 December 2004 |page=P04 |accessdate=16 July 2020}}

In March 2010 Kraft Foods Inc acquired Cadbury plc. 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.{{cite web|url= https://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/06/28/business-specialized-consumer-services-us-kraft-foods-poland-unit_7724561.html?boxes=Homepagebusinessnews |title=Kraft sells Polish Cadbury business to Lotte Group |work=Forbes.com |date= |accessdate=2010-06-28}}{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} To satisfy this demand Wedel was sold to Lotte of South Korea in June 2010.{{cite press release |title=Kraft Foods to Sell Wedel Business in Poland to Lotte Group |url= https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kraft-foods-to-sell-wedel-business-in-poland-to-lotte-group-97287214.html |website=www.prnewswire.com |date=28 June 2010 |accessdate=16 July 2020}} 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.{{cite web|url= http://www.lotte.co.jp/english/oversea/index.html |title=Lotte |publisher=Lotte |date= September 1978|accessdate=2010-06-28}} Kraft Foods have kept the rights to the Cadbury, Halls, and other brands along with two plants manufacturing Cadbury products in Skarbimierz.

• Ptasie mleczko – 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)

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• Economy of Poland
• List of Polish companies

{{Reflist|2}}

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

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• {{Official website}}
• {{in lang|pl}} {{url|www.wedelpijalnie.pl}} – chocolate shops
• Tiffany, Susan, [http://www.allbusiness.com/wholesale-trade/merchant-wholesalers-nondurable/556589-1.html Wedel meets the demands of a market-driven Poland], Candy Industry, Wednesday, May 1, 1996
• {{in lang|pl}} Tadeusz Władysław Świątek, [http://www.jednota.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=346&Itemid=66/ Fabryka Cukierków i Czekolady "E. Wedel"], Jednota 15 06 2005

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Category:Manufacturing companies based in Warsaw

Category:Companies established in 1851

Category:Companies formerly listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

Category:Polish brands

Category:Polish chocolate companies

Category:Confectionery companies of Poland

Category:1851 establishments in the Russian Empire

Category:Food and drink companies established in 1851

Category:Wedel family

Category:European chocolate bars