Through an online petition and the launch of four bars referring to well-known chocolate brands, Tony’s Chocolonely wants to put pressure on politicians and the industry to ban child labour and slavery.
Legislation necessary
According to the ethical chocolatier, self-regulation in the chocolate industry does not work and legislation is urgently needed, making companies responsible for what happens in their value chain, so that excesses like child labour and modern slavery can be ended. Tony’s Chocolonely refers to a recently published NORC report, which shows that human rights are still violated on a large scale in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the largest cocoa producing countries in the world.
First of all, the chocolate company calls on everyone to sign a petition in order to support the call for legislation that obliges companies to tackle abuses in their value chains. By collecting as many signatures as possible, the initiative wants to increase the pressure on politicians.
Good cause
Tony’s Chocolonely is also launching four new limited-edition chocolate bars onto the market. The packaging of the bars refers to big brands such as Twix, Toblerone, KitKat and Ferrero Rocher. “It is a playful action. We hope for cooperation in the chocolate industry. Besides, it is a temporary initiative. The action lasts about three weeks”, says Thecla Schaeffer, head of marketing at Tony’s Chocolonely.
The profits of the so-called Sweet Solution bars will go to 100WEEKS, a foundation that helps women in Africa to get out of poverty, both by donating money and by providing financial training. In Belgium the bars will be available from January 28th at Delhaize, in the Netherlands at Albert Heijn, Marqt, De Bijenkorf (online), WAAR (online) and at Schiphol, in the UK at Chocoshop (online), in Ireland at Fresh and Brown Thomas, in the US at Whole Foods Market. Of course they are also for sale in the Tony’s Chocolonely webshop.
