This Easter, Tony’s Chocolonely is on a mission to raise awareness of the bitter truth behind the production of chocolate Easter eggs – taking on the biggest global chocolate companies to call for positive changes.
The chocolate supply chain is fraught with problems, especially in West Africa. There are currently 2.1 million children working illegally and at least 30,000 instances of modern slavery on cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast where 60% of the world’s cocoa comes from. Yet, every child in the UK now receives an average of 8.8 Easter eggs every year.
Isn’t it strange that we hand out chocolate eggs to children that could have been made by children, the company asks. Tony’s Chocolonely wants to change that.
Every purchase of Tony’s Chocolonely helps to fight slavery in the cocoa industry. That’s why Tony’s is launching two new products for Easter – Great Big Chocolate Eggs and an Easter Lemon Meringue Milk Chocolate Bar. Now UK chocolate fans can share Easter treats that will help towards a future where all chocolate worldwide is 100% slave free.
The Great Big Chocolate Eggs are small (despite the big name) but perfectly formed solid egg versions of Tony’s best-selling classic bars- milk chocolate 32%, milk caramel sea salt, milk hazelnut, milk almond honey nougat, dark milk 42% pretzel toffee, dark 51% dark almond sea salt and pure 70% dark chocolate. Seven flavours are un-egg-ually divided over 12 eggs to illustrate the inequality in the chocolate industry. The Lemon Meringue Bar is packed with meringue pieces (made from free-range eggs) and a hint of zesty lemon with an Easter egg shape to pop out. Minimal packaging is used for both products, and the paper, cardboard and aluminium foil are all recyclable.
As well as the two new product launches, Tony’s is now calling on chocolate fans to sign a petition to make all companies legally responsible for their supply chains, with a goal of one million signatures to be put before EU and US governments. The organisation was started by a team of Dutch journalists in 2005 with one clear mission – to make all chocolate 100% slave free. Not just Tony’s chocolate, but all chocolate worldwide. Tony’s has revolutionised how it sources, processes and pays for cocoa to show the world that chocolate can be made differently – in taste, packaging and the way you do business with cocoa farmers.
Tony’s Chocolonely is now the number one chocolate brand in The Netherlands and is third in the global list of most searched for chocolate products according to Leisure. The brand launched in the UK in January 2019 and is already Ocado’s 4th biggest chocolate brand.
