Cadbury Chairman and CEO to Step Down

Roger Carr and Todd Stizer announced on Wednesday their intention to stand down as Chairman of Cadbury following Kraft Foods’ decision to declare its offer for Cadbury unconditional.

4 Feb 2010 --- Cadbury chief executive Todd Stitzer and chairman Roger Carr have announced their departures from the world-renowned chocolate maker – less than 24 hours after Kraft took control.

Andrew Bonfield has also revealed his intention to step down as Chief Financial Officer from the historic Birmingham firm whose 186 years of independence has now come to an end.

Todd Stitzer hannounced on Wednesday his intention to stand down as Chief Executive Officer of Cadbury following a 27-year career at the company.
 
Commenting on his decision, Todd said: “It has been my honour and privilege to lead this wonderful company for the past seven years. By any set of business standards we have achieved great things. Equally importantly, we have given 21st century meaning to George Cadbury’s 19th century principle that ‘doing good is good for business’.
 
“I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to every one of my 45,000 colleagues for the support they have given me, and for the passion and energy they have shown in making Cadbury the finest confectioner in the world. I wish all the best of everything to each of you.
 
“I wish Irene Rosenfeld and her team every success in taking Cadbury and its brands forward. They have pledged they will do their utmost to preserve Cadbury’s unique performance driven, values led heritage, and I urge all my colleagues to do their utmost to help them in this special task.
 
“The past few months have been an intense and difficult time and I would also like to thank all those who helped show the true value of Cadbury through a spirited bid defence. I will now be taking some time out with my family to consider my future options, but you can be sure my heart will always be a deep Cadbury purple.”
 
Meanwhile Roger Carr announced on Wednesday his intention to stand down as Chairman of Cadbury following Kraft Foods’ decision to declare its offer for Cadbury unconditional.
 
Commenting on his decision, Roger Carr said: “It has been my great pleasure and privilege to chair Cadbury for the past two years, and I would like to thank Todd Stitzer, my fellow Board members and indeed all of my Cadbury colleagues for their valuable support and commitment in taking this great company forward in that period.
 
“Together we have fought an excellent defence campaign and delivered substantial value to Cadbury shareholders. In handing over to Irene Rosenfeld I wish her the very best as she takes on responsibility for continuing to build and develop what is indisputably one of the world’s greatest brands.”
 
The effective date of both Roger Carr’s and Todd Stizer’s resignation from the Board is still to be determined.