The Cadbury chocolate spies

ESL Lessons: True Stories

A printable worksheet for story-based English conversation classes.

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: The Cadbury chocolate spies

Warm-up

What's your favorite kind of chocolate?

Vocabulary Match

guise -   - strong
incorporating -   - watching
stiff -   - mask
significant -   - new
spying -   - notable
innovative -   - including

True Story

Listen and fill in the blanks with words from above.

In the early 20th century, Cadbury, a well-known British chocolate maker, faced ________ competition. To stay ahead, they came up with a clever plan.

They sent their employees on holiday trips abroad, but these were no ordinary holidays. These employees were secretly tasked with ________ on other chocolate factories to discover their secret techniques and recipes. They visited factories under the ________ of tourists, keenly observing and gathering information about ________ chocolate-making methods.

Upon returning, they shared their findings with Cadbury, leading to ________ improvements in their chocolate production. This strategy helped Cadbury develop smoother, tastier chocolate, like the famous Dairy Milk, by ________ the best practices learned from their rivals.

Quiz

  1. What was Cadbury's plan to stay ahead in the competition?
  2. How did Cadbury improve their chocolate production?

True or False

  1. Cadbury is a well-known Irish chocolate maker.  T  |  F
  2. The employees were sent to steal all the chocolate from other factories.  T  |  F
  3. The strategy helped Cadbury develop smoother, tastier chocolate.  T  |  F

Conversation

A: Did you enjoy your holiday, Frank?
B: It was more than just a holiday, boss.
A: Oh, did you manage to get any...chocolatey secrets?
B: You bet! Wait till you see what I've got.
A: Great work! Looks like you've gained a few pounds.
B: I hope you're talking about my salary!

Discussion

  1. Have you ever tasted Cadbury's chocolate?
  2. Would you go on a spying mission if asked by your company?
  3. Can you think of some rival companies? Do they copy each other? How so?

True Story Answers

In the early 20th century, Cadbury, a well-known British chocolate maker, faced stiff competition. To stay ahead, they came up with a clever plan.

They sent their employees on holiday trips abroad, but these were no ordinary holidays. These employees were secretly tasked with spying on other chocolate factories to discover their secret techniques and recipes. They visited factories under the guise of tourists, keenly observing and gathering information about innovative chocolate-making methods.

Upon returning, they shared their findings with Cadbury, leading to significant improvements in their chocolate production. This strategy helped Cadbury develop smoother, tastier chocolate, like the famous Dairy Milk, by incorporating the best practices learned from their rivals.

Vocabulary Answers

stiff → strong
spying → watching
guise → mask
innovative → new
significant → notable
incorporating → including

Quiz Answers

  1. Cadbury's plan was to send their employees on holiday trips to spy on other chocolate factories.
  2. By incorporating the best practices learned from their rivals.

True or False Answers

  1. False
  2. False
  3. True

Further Reading

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2005/07/real-life-espionage-that-inspired-dahl-s-classic.html

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ESL Lessons: True Stories