May 10, 20232 min read

Tony's Chocolonely

100% slave free chocolate...

Tony's creates 100% slave free chocolate.

“We lead by example and show the world that chocolate can be made differently.” Tony's Chocolonely

About Tony's Chocolonely

Tony's Chocolonely creates chocolate bars that are fairtrade and 100% slave free by supporting fair wages and ethical standards.

Back in 2003 Teun van de Keuken (the Tony's Chocolonely founder) was shocked to learn that slavery and child labour still exists in West Africa on cocoa farms which is where 60% of the world's cocoa comes from. He knew that he had to act and that's how Tony's Chocolonely was born.

Tony's aims are not just to ensure that their own bars are Fairtrade and 100% slave free but to encourage every chocolate company to choose to do the same and follow their lead!

The company's first chocolate bar was born on the 29th of November 2005 and the they haven't looked back since!

Why Are The Bars Unevenly Divided?

Tony's have chosen to make their bars unevenly divided to reflect how unevenly divided the chocolate industry is. You can find out more in the video below:

Cocoa Slavery

After the founder of Tony's Chocolonely, Teun learnt about the shocking conditions and knew that cocoa slavery was still occurring today he made it his mission to talk to some of those affected. He was able to trace a few of the children that were forced to work on cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast, here are there interviews:

Chocolonely Foundation

The Chocolonely Foundation was founded to empower cocoa farmer communities and is funded through chocolate sales. Tony's also donates 1% of its net revenue to projects that are aimed at creating a slave-free chocolate community.

Sustainability

All of the bars are wrapped in uncoated, recycled FSC-certified paper.

Back in 2014, Tony's began paying around 25% more for cocoa than the standard price that farmers were used to receiving. This fee was decided upon after using a study from True Price that determined what a 'living wage' would be.

In 2016, the company installed their own cocoa butter tank which from then meant they were able to make their cocoa butter fully traceable.

My Experience

I've wanted to try Tony's chocolate for a while and finally got my hands on a bar!

While these bars are more expensive than other big brands they are just as delicious and have a better message and mission which makes the price justifiable.

The chocolate itself is rich and smooth so all round super yummy!

Definitely worth a try and you'll be supporting fair wages and more ethical practises within the cocoa production industry.

Chocolate Bar I Tried - Milk