Tony's Chocolonely facts for kids
Tony's Chocolonely milk chocolate bar
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| Besloten vennootschap | |
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Founded | Amsterdam, Netherlands November 29, 2005 |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
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Key people
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Henk Jan Beltman (CEO, shareholder) Teun van de Keuken (Founder) |
| Products | Chocolate bars |
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Tony's Chocolonely is a Dutch chocolate company that started in 2005. They make and sell chocolate bars. By 2018, they were one of the biggest chocolate makers in the Netherlands. They had 18% of the chocolate market there.
Contents
How Tony's Chocolonely Started
In 2003, a Dutch journalist named Teun van de Keuken found out something shocking. He learned that most chocolate was made using unfair labor practices. This meant some people, including children, were forced to work.
Teun started making TV shows about these problems. He tried to get the chocolate industry to change. But after three years, nothing much happened. So, Teun decided to make his own chocolate. He wanted to show that chocolate could be made fairly.
He called his brand "Tony's Chocolonely." "Tony" is like Teun, and "Chocolonely" means he felt alone in trying to fix the chocolate world. He sold 20,000 chocolate bars in just two days!
Early Challenges
In 2007, another chocolate company tried to sue Tony's. But a court in Amsterdam said there was enough proof. They agreed that Tony's chocolate was made without forced labor.
Later that year, the TV show that Teun worked on got into trouble. The Dutch Media Authority said the show gave Tony's Chocolonely too much free advertising. The TV station had to pay a fine.
Growing and Learning
In 2010, Tony's added a new hazelnut chocolate bar. But then, a TV show reported that children were picking hazelnuts in Turkey. Tony's reacted quickly. They immediately switched to a hazelnut supplier from the Netherlands. This showed how serious they were about fair practices. By the end of that year, Tony's had grown a lot. Their share of the Dutch chocolate market was over 4.5%.
In 2011, Henk Jan Beltman became a main owner of the company. He helped Tony's move to a new, bigger office.
Tony's worked hard to make sure their ingredients were sourced fairly. By 2013, they could trace all their cocoa mass. This means they knew exactly where it came from. By 2016, they could trace their cocoa butter too.
Expanding to New Countries
As Tony's grew, they decided to sell their chocolate in other countries. In 2015, they opened their first international office in the United States. They moved their main US office to New York City in 2020.
By 2018, Tony's Chocolonely was sold in many countries. These included Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and the United States. In the Netherlands, they became very popular. They even sold more chocolate than big companies like Mars and Nestlé. In 2019, Tony's chocolate also became available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Staying True to Their Mission
In 2021, Tony's faced a challenge. An American group removed Tony's from their list of ethical chocolate companies. This happened because Tony's works with a large chocolate maker called Barry Callebaut. Even though Tony's itself did not have child labor, Barry Callebaut had some issues in their supply chain. Tony's explained that they work with Barry Callebaut to help change the whole industry from the inside.
In 2024, Tony's launched special chocolate wrappers in Germany and Austria. These wrappers looked like famous chocolate brands. Tony's wanted to make people think about unfair labor in the cocoa industry. But one company, Milka, sued Tony's. Tony's was then stopped from selling chocolate "using the colour purple" in Germany.
Tony's Chocolonely Products
Tony's chocolate bars are easy to spot because they are divided unevenly. This special design shows how money is not shared fairly in the chocolate industry.
The types of chocolate bars and flavors can be different depending on the country. In the Netherlands, for example, they have many flavors.
In the United States, some popular flavors include:
- Milk chocolate 32%
- Extra dark chocolate 70%
- Milk caramel sea salt 32%
- Dark almond sea salt 51%
- Dark milk pretzel toffee 42%
- Dark pecan coconut 51%
- Milk hazelnut 32%
- Milk honey almond nougat 32%
- White raspberry popping candy 28%
Tony's also sells different sizes of chocolate:
- Large bars (180 grams)
- Small bars (50 grams)
- Tiny Tony's (9 grams)
- Special holiday items, like chocolate Easter eggs
Some products are only sold in Europe. These include personalized chocolate bars, Chocolate milk, and chocolate letters.
Tony's often introduces new flavors. Each year, they release three new limited-edition bars. The most popular one might even become a permanent flavor. They also make special "relay" bars for a supermarket chain. These flavors change every six months.
Awards and Recognition
Tony's Chocolonely has won awards for its efforts.
In 2020, they were named the most sustainable brand in the Netherlands. This award was based on what people thought about the brand's sustainability.
In 2022, the Thomson Reuters Foundation gave Tony's Chocolonely the Stop Slavery Award. This award celebrates companies that work hard to remove forced labor and child labor from their supply chains.
In 2023, Tony's Chocolonely was ranked second on the Chocolate Scorecard. This scorecard rates chocolate companies on how well they treat people and the environment. It looks at things like:
- Knowing where ingredients come from
- Making sure farmers earn enough money
- Preventing child labor
- Protecting forests and the climate
