Behind the character (yes.. they're real wrestlers!):
Real name: Reece Tanner
Wrestler name: Tommy Tanner
Instagram: @thetommytanner


A symbol of the chocolate industry we're fighting for Tony represents the possibility of an equal cocoa industry. He’s fun, bold and full of energy, but behind the wrestling flair is something serious: chocolate can be made differently, in taste, packaging and the way we do business with cocoa farmers. In the real world, exploitation is the villain.. not other chocolate companies. We want them in the ring with us, joining the movement for change. He’s here to bring a complex issue into the spotlight in a way that’s bright, joyful and impossible to ignore. He’s here to show how millions of small choices can add up to big, industry‑wide change.. because that’s how the industry changes. Not through one Choco Fan or company acting alone, but through many people joining a movement.

Behind the character (yes.. they're real wrestlers!):
Real name: Ben Pumffery
Wrestler name: Bullit
Instagram: @bullitbenno

The problem hiding in plain sight

Exploitation is the real villain in the cocoa industry and it’s hiding in plain sight: poverty, child labour and deforestation.

Prices that don’t enable cocoa farmers to earn a living income, child labour, deforestation, and the impossible choices families face as a result. He embodies the deep-rooted exploitation Tony’s Chocolonely has been working to expose and challenge for over 20 years. This character may be loud, over-the-top and dramatic, but the issue he represents couldn’t be more serious. X-ploitation is the symbol of everything that needs to change so we can all enjoy chocolate without harming those at the start of the supply chain.

But the good news is Tony’s has the sweet solution and we want to share it with the world. Because the industry doesn’t change through one company acting alone. It happens when Choco Fans, companies, retailers and governments fight the system together. Tony's mission statement: The systemic underpayment of cocoa farmers is exploitation, causing a domino effect that leads to poverty, which forces farmers to turn to other forms of exploitation: child labour and deforestation. There are 1.56 million children (NORC report, 2020) in child labour in cocoa-growing communities, and there is widespread deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. These issues have been embedded in the industry for many decades without much progress. Tony's exists to fight this.