The Cadbury versus Kraft takeover battle can be characterised in all sorts of ways: UK versus the US; medium-sized multinational versus mega-multinational; “brash and blousey” (as one commentator put it) versus lean and green.  But the characterisation that matters most is what kind of capitalism these two companies stand for.

Forum for the Future has been working with Cadbury for a long time, on a number of pioneering sustainability issues.  So there’s no doubt I’m just a bit biased.  But there are few really successful companies out there that are so overtly values-led.  And even fewer Chief Executives whose words make me get up out of my seat and shout “Yes, Yes, Yes!”

Todd Stitzer (the man in question) would be quite embarrassed at that idea.  He doesn’t do over-the-top.  Which is why his recent speech at a Fair Trade conference in London on September 24th is so important.

“Capitalism is characterised as a one-way relationship in thrall to profit margins and shareholder returns.  But I have always believed that there is more than one type of capitalism.  It is true that unbridled capitalism can be a destructive beast, not just to those it does business with but to the company itself.  History shows that those who operate in this way inevitably come undone.  They over-leverage and under-invest to the detriment of the whole enterprise.  The recent past has presented numerous examples, which all business leaders and shareholders would do well to learn from.”

He didn’t spell it out in so many words on that occasion, but his fierce opposition to the takeover by Kraft arises out of that deep concern about the nature of capitalism itself – and the brutish acquisitiveness that drives so much theoretical “value-creation”.  The Kraft bid is so transparently all about size, cash and clout, with little if any interest in heritage, culture and values.

Kraft has, of course, got a case to make on its own ethical and environmental performance.  Any company that can market one of its many coffee products under the brand name of “Sustainable Development” clearly can’t be all bad.  But compared to the way in which Cadbury has set about embracing Fair Trade (its recent accreditation for Dairy Milk is seen as a huge step forward in this regard) and committing to swathes of ambitious and community-based targets is just in a different league.

Stitzer describes this as “principled capitalism”, something which comes more naturally to Cadbury than to many companies, partly because of its extraordinary Quaker origins and progressive values:

“We see this principled capitalism, which has been woven into the very fabric of Cadbury over the course of almost two centuries, as fundamental to our ways of working and part of our identity and success.  Take it away, or dilute it, and you risk destroying what makes Cadbury a great company.”

Despite the economic crash, despite the humbling of the arrogant, neo-liberal fanatics that brought the global economy to the edge of the abyss, and despite the recognition that the rapacious excesses of the last twenty years must now be driven out of the system, we just don’t hear many Chief Executives talking like that.  Hardly any.  Hardly ever.

More than ever, the world needs that kind of leadership.  Capitalists need that kind of leadership.  And Cadbury’s shareholders need to be mindful of that bigger picture as well as of the financial stakes involved.