Tony’s Chocolonely has launched four limited edition lookalike chocolate bars to raise awareness of the fact that 20 years after the chocolate industry vowed to eradicate illegal child labour, it is still widespread. All chocolate fans are asked to support the need for human rights laws holding companies legally accountable for modern slavery and illegal child labour in their supply chains.
The bars, with a link to the petition on the inside of the wrapper, are available on brownthomas.com, in Fresh Dublin stores and from Fresh online. They were meant to be sold in some UK supermarkets but after one day in stores some big chocolate makers put pressure on Tony’s retailers to remove them because they didn’t want to be associated with the claims of illegal labour.
The chocolate industry has failed to address human rights violations in Ghana and Ivory Coast, even though it is possible to make tasty chocolate without exploiting people. In 2001, the world’s biggest chocolate companies supported the Harkin–Engel Protocol, committing to eradicate illegal child labour and modern slavery from the chocolate supply chain.
However, since then, not much has changed.
Today, over 1.56 million children and at least 30,000 victims of slavery are forced to work on cocoa plantations as evidenced in the US-government sponsored NORC report published last year. Voluntary measures have failed. Companies are not legally obliged to do their due diligence to trace violations of human rights in their supply chains, let alone solve them.
Tony’s mission
Tony’s Chocolonely is on a mission to make 100 per cent slave free the norm in chocolate, changing the industry from within by raising awareness of the issue, leading by example and inspiring key industry stakeholders to act. The Sweet Solution bars do all three in one go by showing how fair chocolate can be made and enjoyed guiltlessly.
The bars are inspired by the world’s most iconic chocolate brands that together represent the face of a big chocolate industry. However, they are in fact very different: from their boldly branded wrappers to their chunky tablet format – these nougat pyramids, wafer strips, nutty crunch circles and caramel biscuit strips are unmistakably Tony’s Chocolonely.
The bars are made following Tony’s 5 Sourcing Principles: using 100 per cent traceable cocoa beans, paying a higher price, strengthening farmer cooperatives, engaging in long-term direct trading partnerships, and focusing on cocoa quality and productivity to optimise cocoa yields.
Tony’s Sweet Solution bars were created solely to raise issue-awareness and inspire everyone in the chocolate chain to act. All profits from the bars will be donated to 100WEEKS, an independent platform that uses direct cash transfers and financial training to assist women in escaping the cycle of extreme poverty.
To be part of the sweet solution and call upon governments to act this year, sign Tony’s petition here: https://tonyschocolonely.com/petition
