Tony’s Chocolonely gears-up for the World Confectionery Conference, as it launches key campaign
Innovative confectionery impact brand Tony’s Chocolonely is taking a novel approach to its fight for a more sustainable cocoa industry through recruiting seven of the most famous celebrity Tony’s in the world, to spread its mission, writes Neill Barston.
The forward-thinking Dutch business, which is set to be represented as a keynote speaker at this year’s World Confectionery Conference on 12 September (registration is still available for our event via the following link), has set its stall out to continue seeking to drive down the ongoing issue of child labour within key global supply chains.
As part of its latest campaign, the business is turning its focus to shine a light on the topic through seeking the assistance of well-know ‘Tonys’ who have each made an impact in their own respective fields.
They include professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, pro basketballer Anthony Edwards, former professional footballer Toni Kroos, actors Sir Anthony Hopkins, Antonia Gentry and Toni Collette and TV personality + food expert Antoni Porowski – to join its commitment to break the mould of exploitation for millions of cocoa farmers in West Africa.
As previously reported by Confectionery Production, Tony’s which works with major industry partner Barry Callebuat for its sourcing of cocoa in Ivory Coast, has continued to find instances of child labour in its own supply chains – but it believes the groundwork it has put in place in terms of devising policies to work with local co-operatives and instigate child labour monitoring and remediation strategies is enable communities to re-shape how they are engaging with the cocoa industry.
Moreover, as the company noted, cocoa sourced through Tony’s Open Chain model is 100% deforestation-free, reduces child labor from 46.7% (industry average) to 4.4% at long-term partner co-ops and increases cocoa income by 51% for farmers in Ivory Coast.
Tony’s Chocolonely will be appearing at this year’s World Confectionery Conference next month, with its sustainability specialist, Joke Aerts among our keynote speakers, discussing challenges and successes within its sourcing programme. (See our recent sneak preview video interview with Joke below)
Sadira Furlow, Chief of Global Brand & Communications at Tony’s Chocolonely, explained that gaining the support of high profile individuals can positively influence its underlying mission.
“If we’re going to end exploitation in cocoa, we need some help. That’s why we’re shooting our shot with these 7 Tonys who share our desire to make a positive impact in the world. Our stages (or courts) may be different, but our values are aligned. And with a vision as ambitious as ours, we need to go big and bold – and that’s exactly what we’re doing here.”
The brand has sent each celebrity a tasty, custom chocolate bar with a personalised invitation inside. If a celeb agrees to join its sweet movement, Tony’s will sell a limited number of these specialised bars on their online Choco Shop. Any proceeds will be donated to charity.
As the company underlined, it exists to end exploitation in cocoa with delicious, chunky chocolate made from ethically sourced cocoa beans. It sources all its cocoa through Tony’s Open Chain, according to its 5 Sourcing Principles. This sustainable sourcing model includes paying a higher for cocoa long-term to enable farmers to earn a living income, investing in productivity and using 100% traceable cocoa beans to drive down child labor and deforestation.