PSA: it’s ChocoloneLy (not Chocoloney)

Ohhh yeah, it’s true! Our full name is Tony’s Chocolonely, not Tony’s Chocoloney. Why? We thought you’d never ask..

unwrapping chocolate’s bitter truth

Our story started back in 2003, when journalist Teun – aka Tony – van de Keuken investigated the extent of human rights abuses in the cocoa industry on a Dutch TV show called ‘Keuringsdienst van Waarde’. They zoomed in on Ghana + Côte d’Ivoire, the 2 countries where most of the world’s cocoa is produced, and discovered that the illegal labour situation in both countries was (and still is) extremely serious – with 1.56 million children working illegally on cocoa farms. He tried to discuss the issues he found with large chocolate companies, but they ignored him. And while the segment aired, not nearly enough people took notice to drive change..

So together with his team, he tried a different route.. He spoke with child victims of modern slavery and put together a legal case. He argued that under EU law, Teun was complicit in the chocolate industry’s crimes by knowingly consuming a product made by illegal labour. But the judge didn’t buy it..

launching our sweet solution

That’s when Teun realised that the best way to inspire change is to show it can be done, leading by example. And so, in 2005, he launched 5,000 damn tasty, chunky chocolate bars from ethically sourced cocoa beans. ’Cause Tony is easier to pronounce than Teun, he decided to brand these bars ‘Tony’s Chocolonely’ – a nod to Teun’s lonely fight against exploitation in the cocoa industry.

But over these last 19 years, we’ve gathered lots and lots of Serious Friends (hi!) and Mission Allies – aka brands that’ve joined our fight, sourcing cocoa responsibly according to our 5 Sourcing Principles. And we think that’s pretty cool.

Thanks for joining our sweet movement for change.

Together, we will break the mould to end exploitation in cocoa. Bar by bar, bite by bite.

Are you in?

Tony’s Chocolonely