Tony's Chocolonely

Tony's Chocolonely Nederland B.V.
Private
Industry Confectionery
Founded Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 29, 2005 (2005-11-29)
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Key people
 Henk Jan Beltman
(CEO, shareholder)
Teun van de Keuken
(Founder)
Products Chocolate bars
Website www.tonyschocolonely.com/us/

Tony's Chocolonely is a confectionery company focused on producing and selling chocolate closely following fair trade practices, strongly opposing slavery and child labour by partnering with trading companies in Ghana and Ivory Coast to buy cocoa beans directly from the farmers, providing them with a fair price for their product and combating exploitation.

History

In 2002, investigative reporter Teun van de Keuken of the Dutch television show 'Keuringsdienst van Waarde' found that none of the chocolate manufacturers that had signed the Harkin–Engel Protocol was upholding the agreements made in 2001 (producing 'slave-free' chocolate from 2005 on), he decided to take matters into his own hand by recording himself eating 17 bars of chocolate and subsequently taking himself to court for 'knowingly purchasing an illegally manufactured product'. To make a case against himself, he convinced 4 former cocoa plantation child slaves from Ivory Coast to testify against him. By 2007, the Dutch attorney general had the case dismissed for being outside their jurisdiction.

Van de Keuken decided he wanted to do more and tried to enlist the aid of existing chocolate companies to produce the world's first chocolate bar which contains no cocoa that can be linked to slavery. However, none of the companies responded favorably. He then decided to start manufacturing without support from a major player in the market. On November 29, 2005 he introduced a milk chocolate bar made entirely from 'slave-free' cocoa.

On Februari 6, 2007 a court ruling in Amsterdam officially acknowledged that Tony's Chocolonely chocolate was produced in a slave-free manner.[1] A Dutch importer for Swiss-brand chocolates unsuccessfully sues the team behind Tony's Chocolonely for reputation damage, claiming that "slave-free chocolate is impossible to produce".[2]

When a hazelnut milk chocolate bar was added to the lineup in 2010, Dutch TV show 'Een Vandaag' reported that 9-year-old children participated in the Turkish hazelnut harvest. [3]The company responded by immediately switching to a local hazelnut supplier from The Netherlands. The same year, the market-share of the brand exceeded 4.5 percent in The Netherlands.[4]

In 2011 Henk Jan Beltman became a majority shareholder and moved the company to a new location near Westergasfabriek.

With production steadily increasing, the company decided in 2015 to expand their business to the United States, opening their first international office in Portland, Oregon.[5]

Products

References

  1. ↑ Uitspraak Rechtbank Amsterdam, 06 februari 2007, ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2007:AZ7870 (Dutch)
  2. ↑ Tony's Chocolonely mag zich slaafvrij noemen, Trouw, 6 februari 2007. (Dutch)
  3. ↑ Hoe haalbaar is Fair Trade? (Dutch)
  4. ↑ Bij Tony Chocolonely draait het niet alleen om winst maken (Dutch)
  5. ↑ Tony's Chocolonely launches in Portland
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