Jeremy Warner: A recessionary sweet tooth is just the ticket

Outlook: General Motors seems to be going bust, Corus is slashing steel production, Royal Worcester has been forced into administration – that was only some of the negative news about the economy yesterday. All over the shop, the signs multiply of a deep recession in the making.

I have been unable to find a single business leader with anything positive to say about the world this week – except perhaps one. Todd Stitzer, the chief executive of Cadbury, has rarely been happier. There is no sign at all of a downturn in his business – if anything rather the reverse because people want comfort food when they are feeling miserable. Now he has managed to demerge the drinks company, he is able to concentrate full-time on the task of improving sales and margins in his core confectionery group.

Yet even he won't call Cadbury "recession proof"; he much prefers the expression "recession resilient", which leaves him at least a little room for disappointments.