The British are one of the largest consumers of Easter Eggs internationally and will enjoy around 80 million Easter Eggs this season. Roughly 50% of them will be Cadbury and three people supplying this demand and helping to put Easter Eggs on shop shelves are apprentices David Moulds, Ben Larkin and Kayleigh Yeomans.

Kraft Foods Bournville manufacturing site produces around 47 million Easter Eggs and more than 300 million Creme Eggs each year, so from making sure the machines are working effectively to wrapping and packing the Easter Eggs, the site relies on its best people during busy times.   

David Moulds is in his 4th Year Engineering Apprenticeship and has been busy making sure the chocolate egg producing machines are in tip top condition by carrying out maintenance work    

The youngest apprentice at Bournville is 18 years old confectionery apprentice, Ben Larkin. Currently working along side the operators on the Easter Egg line, Ben is on course to finish his advanced Apprenticeship in food manufacturing this year.

Kayleigh Yeomans is the only female apprentice working at Bournville and has recently completed her advanced Apprenticeship in Food Manufacturing. Kayleigh has had the important task of running the wrappers and cartoning operation on the Easter Egg line. 

Kraft Foods currently employs 36 apprentices across the UK & Ireland business and nearly 2% of its manufacturing employees are apprentices. By 2012 the company has an ambition to increase its number of Apprenticeships by 50% and working in partnership with the National Apprenticeship Service its currently recruiting for 12 apprentices at the Bournville factory. The closing date for applications is 24 April and potential apprentice candidates can find out more information and apply by visiting Apprenticeship vacancies online at www.apprenticeships.org.uk     

Alan Lewis, head of engineering for the company's Blocks Category, said: "Bournville is a factory at the heart of the Birmingham community and its commitment to Apprenticeships makes a difference to the local economy. Over the last 20 years, the site has recruited apprentices every year. That means about 50 apprentices have trained with us, with around 20 still working here progressing through the organisation.

"This year we are also looking to recruit six engineering apprentices and two confectionery apprentices at our Sheffield site - the home of UK sugar confectionery. The last apprentice we hired at Sheffield was in 1985, so the launch of a new programme is really exciting.

"Bringing new blood into a department has many benefits: a sense of progression; a feeling of security because this is an investment in the future. Our company recognises the value of a well-trained workforce and investment in an apprentice is a long-term investment in the future of the company".

Karen Woodward, Regional Apprenticeship Director for the West Midlands said: "Year on year Kraft Foods Bournville manufacturing site has increased the number of apprentices they employ recognising the business benefits of integrating the Apprenticeship programme into their workforce development strategy. They are an Apprentice Ambassador company in the West Midlands, committed to Apprenticeship training; and by working with Birmingham Metropolitan College have developed Apprenticeship programmes in engineering, confectionery and food manufacturing, to meet their needs."

Top Easter facts

• 2011 is the latest Easter season since 1934 

• If you piled all the Creme Eggs made in a year on top of each other, it would be ten times higher than Mount Everest!

• Cadbury made its first creme-filled egg way back in 1923 and its first Easter Egg (shell) in 1875

• The modern Easter Egg box was designed in the 1950's by an American looking to invent the perfect packaging for a light bulb

• John Cadbury made his first 'French Eating Chocolate' in 1842, but it was not until 1875 that the first Cadbury Easter Eggs were made.

• Progress in the chocolate Easter Egg market was very slow until a method was found of making the liquid chocolate flow into moulds.

• J.S. Fry of Bristol, the company which merged with Cadbury Limited in 1919, produced the first chocolate eggs in 1873, while rivals

• Rowntree waited until 1904 and it was not until 1987 that Mars entered the market.

• The modern chocolate Easter Egg with its smoothness, shape and flavour owes its progression to the greatest development in the history of chocolate - Van Houten's invention in Holland of a press for separating cocoa butter from the cocoa bean in 1828 and the introduction of a pure cocoa by Cadbury Brothers in 1866. The Cadbury process made large quantities of cocoa butter available and this was the secret of making moulded chocolate or indeed any fine eating chocolate.

• The earliest Cadbury chocolate eggs were made of 'dark' chocolate with a plain smooth surface and they were filled with dragees, sugar coated chocolate drops. The earliest 'decorated' eggs were plain shells enhanced by chocolate piping and marzipan flowers.

• Decorative and variety eggs soon followed and by 1893, the Cadbury Brothers had 19 different Easter lines. Richard Cadbury's artistic skills played an important part in the expansion of the Easter range, many based on French, Dutch and German originals adapted to Victorian tastes.