Ethical Dutch chocolate company Tony’s Chocolonely is set to officially launch in the UK later this month with Selfridges, Waitrose and Wholefoods confirmed as outlets.
The B-Corp certified company, which has become the bestselling chocolate brand in the Netherlands, will launch seven 180g bars and four 50g bars exclusively into Selfridges on January 11 for one weekend.
Tony's Chocolonely was founded in 2005 by investigative journalist Teun van de Keuken (‘Tony’) with a powerful mission to make the chocolate industry 100% slave free. The company’s current chief chocolate officer is former Innocent employee Henk Jan Beltman.
Seven flavors
Tony’s will launch seven flavors: Milk Chocolate, Milk Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt, Milk Chocolate Almond Honey Nougat, Milk Chocolate Hazelnut, Dark Milk Chocolate Pretzel Toffee, Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt and 70% Dark Chocolate in Wholefoods, Ocado and into independent shops and delis via select wholesalers and their own web shop. The roll out will then continue into Waitrose stores from the beginning of February and Sainsbury’s stores in March.
Social inequality
From the startlingly colourful wrappers that explode off the shelf to the unequally divided chocolate bars within to reflect the social inequality of the chocolate industry, Tony’s Chocolonely Fair Trade bars spread its message in its purest form: ‘things can be done differently’.
By launching to the UK market this month, Tony’s aims to raise awareness of the scale of the modern slavery involved in making one of the country’s best loved foods. It says its aim is ‘to encourage consumers and the big industry players to join its mission to make 100% slave-free the norm in chocolate’.
Through direct, long-term relationships with cocoa farmers and cutting-edge technology, Tony’s has created a completely transparent and traceable bean-to-bar process. The company says it pays a higher price for the cocoa beans, provides business and agricultural training to increase productivity on its farms and works together with cooperatives in which farmers are united and stand stronger together.
Furthermore, the company claims that one percent of Tony’s Chocolonely net revenue is donated to the Chocolonely Foundation, supporting projects to eradicate modern slavery in the cocoa chain.