Tony's Chocolonely – the Dutch Chocolate Challenging the Chocolate Industry

Last Updated on October 27, 2022 by Jim Edwards

Tony’s Chocolonely is chocolate that comes from the Dutch brand of the same name. Tony’s chocolate is known to be one of the world’s most ethical chocolate brands that works to make the chocolate industry more empathetic and fair to cocoa farmers.

Coined as “the impact company that makes chocolate,” Tony’s Chocolonely has won hearts worldwide with its fantastic tasting chocolate bars and the large variety of chocolates they offer consumers.

The taste of Tony’s Chocolonely is creamy, sweet, and amazingly rich that will keep you coming back for more.

The packaging of the chocolate will remind you of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Willy Wonka Bar with absurdly quirky writing on the packet and various colorful large sizes that you can indulge in yourself or gift to others.

Contents

History of Tony’s Chocolonely

When the popular Dutch show, Keuringsdienst van Waarde, was being produced in 2003, a group of investigators, including investigative journalist Teun van de Keuken, began to look into the origins of how chocolate is made.

What they found in their search was not only disheartening but illegal! The team of investigators came across the human rights violations and abuses that were taking place in the chocolate industry.

As odd and frightening as it may sound, Teun and his team uncovered modern slavery and child labor in most of the cocoa farming and production business.

The team investigated the case further due to their outrage and followed with multiple episodes throughout the following years.

They collected eyewitness accounts from the people who had been in the industry as victims of modern slavery and presented a case in a court in the Netherlands in front of a public prosecutor.

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They claimed that Teun, the investigative journalist with a deep love for chocolate, was complicit in the crimes and unethical behavior of the chocolate industry.

The legal precedent was set by recording him eating a chocolate bar which did not allow the judge to prosecute him legally but sent a message to chocolate lovers and consumers.

Teun tried to change the chocolate industry with his investigative methods and efforts but failed to do so for three years. After that, he decided to begin producing ethically sourced and created chocolate bars himself.

Although they faced claims of unfair practices and child labor in their supply chain in their initial years, Tony’s Chocolonely responded to these claims affectively by switching suppliers.

Henk Jan Beltman became a major shareholder of the company in 2011 and worked to make the company’s cocoa mass and cocoa butter traceable for their operations.

The company expanded to the United States of America in 2015 and began selling its products in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the States.

The company’s mission is simple: to bring awareness to the human rights violations in the chocolate industry and to empower the farmers and workers at the beginning of the supply chain.

The company plans to lead by its actions which is why they make their operations 100% traceable, even if it costs them a higher price.

They release an annual report each year showing their operations with transparency, the impact they have made, and what they hope to accomplish in the future.

Tony’s Chocolonely Flavors

Tony’s Chocolonely is available in various flavors and fun additions in different countries and the channel of distribution.

A signature feature about these chocolate bars is that they are unevenly divided to symbolize the inequality of income in the chocolate industry.

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The popular range of flavors available are:

Milk Chocolate: Creamy, silky, smooth, and delightful plain milk chocolate bar.
Dark Almond Sea Salt: The perfect mix of decadent dark chocolate and crunchy almonds with sea salt which pairs brilliantly with the bitter dark chocolate.
Dark Pecan Coconut: An unusual mix of flavors with the delightfully refreshing flavor of the coconut, crunch from the pecan, and decadent dark chocolate.
White Raspberry Popping Candy: Subtle and milky white chocolate with the punch of sour and tart popping candies.
Milk Chocolate Hazelnut: Large pieces of hazelnuts in creamy and sweet milk chocolate make it the perfect indulgent snack.
Milk Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt: Mouth-watering caramelly milk chocolate with just the perfect grains of sea salt.
Extra Dark Chocolate: Smooth and powerful dark chocolate that doesn’t leave a bad bitter aftertaste.
Milk Honey Almond Nougat: A crunchy chocolate with almond nougat and notes of honey.
Dark Milk Pretzel Toffee: Delicious dark milk chocolate with rich toffee and crunchy pretzel pieces.
Milk Chocolate Caramel, Almonds, Pretzels, Nougat, and Sea Salt: The stars of Tony’s Chocolonely’s best-selling flavors all mixed in one.

Tony’s Chocolonely – The Story of an Unusual Chocolate Bar

Tony’s Chocolonely makes chocolate sourced from slavery-free areas. Please choose slave-free chocolates and share the company’s story.

Tony’s Chocolonely – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why Is Tony’s Chocolate called Chocolonely?

When founder Teun van de Keuken started producing chocolate, he wanted to lead the chocolate industry by example and show them that fair practices could produce excellent quality chocolate products as well.

Since the journalist felt that he was the only one working to eradicate slavery and caring about the cocoa farmers, he named the chocolate he produced ‘Chocolonely’.

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What is unique about Tony’s Chocolonely?

Tony’s Chocolonely is a Fairtrade certified company whose mission is to make the chocolate industry 100% free of modern slavery.

The company wants not only to practice ethical and sustainable practices for their own chocolate but wants to make all chocolate companies make products and conduct operations that do not promote slavery.