Cadbury 'would turn in his grave'

US food giant Kraft is to put its £9.8bn proposal to take over Cadbury to the confectioner's shareholders after its hostile take-over bid was "emphatically rejected".

The situation has alarmed the grand daughter of a former head of the Birmingham-based chocolate maker who is looking for support to save the "British icon".

Felicity Loudon said her grandfather was her hero

"[Kraft] won't understand the history and quality of the company."

Those are the words of Felicity Loudon, who remains deeply connected to her Cadbury roots.

She is the grand daughter of the late Sir Egbert Cadbury, who was a managing director of the chocolate firm which his grandfather created in 1824.

Mrs Loudon has been alarmed at a proposed takeover by Kraft Foods which she believed would lead to the break up of the "unique firm" and unusual heritage.

The Cadbury family were Quakers and Mrs Loudon said it was their beliefs which led them to develop a benevolent company with philanthropy at its heart.

"I am worried we will lose another British icon and it will be all too late before we realise what has gone," she says.

The Quaker way was to help people but it was never done in a loud way, always anonymously Felicity Loudon, Cadbury founder's descendant

She said she has received many letters of support since she began voicing her concerns about Cadbury's future.

She has also appealed to Birmingham councillors and local organisations to try to raise awareness before "another jewel in the crown" is lost.

She said: "It has some very loyal workers who've been there forever. It's a garden factory. And it'll just all go - it'll become a commercial wasteland.

"And Cadbury's will go overseas I'm sure, and be swallowed up by this enormous company."

Sir Egbert took on many roles in the community

She said Sir Egbert would be "turning in his grave" if he knew of such a proposal.

Her fears the firm could be lost are shared a group of Birmingham MPs who have tabled a House of Commons motion calling for the "iconic brands" of Cadbury and Bournville to remain under British ownership.

It was Sir Egbert's father George who created Bournville village next to his Birmingham factory in a bid to create "improved dwellings, with gardens and open space" to "ameliorate the condition of the working-class and labouring population".

"My great grandfather's famous quote 'no-one should live where a rose cannot grow' has remained with me always," Mrs Loudon said.

Mrs Loudon, who runs a London interior design firm, visited Bournville as a child with her grandfather and later took her sons to the Cadbury World attraction.

'Huge philanthropist'

"I remember it all with awe," she said.

Even as a child, she knew her grandfather was very well thought of.

"He was a huge philanthropist, but a silent philanthropist," she said.

"The Quaker way was to help people but it was never done in a loud way, always anonymously."

Sir Egbert Cadbury, who was knighted in 1957, joined the Fry side of the business after Cadbury Brothers Ltd merged with JS Fry and Sons after World War I.

Mrs Loudon and her brother would regularly go from Berkshire to visit their grandparents at their Bristol home.

"It felt a little bit like going to heaven, I loved being outdoors and I had a pony which was at my grandfather's," she said.

"It was a wonderful house for a child and my brother and I would go skating along the long passages there."

Fighter pilot

Sir Egbert had been been a very active member of the community during his lifetime.

She said he was well known locally through his various roles, including as a justice of the peace (JP). He was also chairman of the Bristol Federation of Boys' Clubs for 20 years.

"He was my hero," she said. "He was social and caring, but was shy in a way and not bombastic.

He was a very tall man, but I remember him as a gentle giant."

Bournville was built with a village green and gardens

Sir Egbert was also famous for being a fighter pilot during World War I, a war in which he shot down two Zeppelins over the North Sea.

Mrs Loudon now has the compass from his war plane after her children traced it.

Sir Egbert died from cancer in 1967 when Mrs Loudon was a teenager.

Mrs Loudon said her grandfather also helped her popularity at boarding school by sending boxes of chocolates at the start of each term.

Her favourite chocolates remain Flakes and Wispas adding that the bars "wouldn't taste the same", if they were made abroad.

Meanwhile, Kraft has appealed for support from Cadbury's investors as the chocolate maker's long history continues.