Brands that I Love – Tony’s Chocolonely

I’m writing this blog up while having their “Nougat milk almond honey” chocolate, which tastes very much like Toblerone and has a wrapper (mainly inside) looks very much like Toblerone, but I bought this one, not the Toblerone. How commercially smart is Tony! And that’s what I love about them.  

I first discovered this cutie in Schiphol Airport many years ago when I was travelling quite frequently from UK to Netherlands. Matte paper, very bright colour, retro and cutout-look typography, thick set – it has everything to stand out from rest on shelf. And the unequally divided chocolate is more unforgettable, I hurt my finger when dividing the thick bar to share with colleagues… Yes, despite this, I love Tony’s Chocolonely, and if you know their story, you feel it’s kind of tiny sacrifice you made in the entire war fighting against slavery, and you are somehow, proud. 

It all started with a Dutch TV journalist from Keuringsdienst van Waarde (I worked with this investigative programme a bit in my previous company, quite a quality one except they made mistakes too…), Teun van de Keuken, realised child slavery is still widely happening in the cocoa plantation, and decided to sell his own chocolate and fight against the unfairness from within. “Tony” is the English name for Teun, and “Chocolonely” is for the lonely war he’s fighting, and that chocolate bar with unequal section is his manifesto that they won’t be equal until the trade is socially equal.

Why I love the brand 

1. A perfect example of “Brand with a Mission” and POV Marketing: to Tony, chocolate is more of a merchandise to fund their mission – make industry 100% slavery free. A few things they have done well

– Say it loud and clear – the message of “make all chocolate 100% slavery free” is clearly communicated everywhere from packaging, website, social media and follow through the entire production. The 2021 campaign “Sweet Solution” launched lookalike bars to mimic famous brands to encourage both big brands and consumers to join together for a slavery free industry. And that’s so powerful and noise making, I see many big brands have to stand up and say something about it. 

– Take actions creatively – actions speaks even louder. They have created the 5 sourcing principles to follow and now Albert Heijn the biggest retailer in the Netherlands is following this as well. They are publishing annual report and hosting annual fair with fans and customers to explain details of their actions. You will also be surprised how much details they have gone into of this on their website, showing how serious they are (vs just a PR stunt). The factory in the outskirt of Amsterdam they are building (on hold for now due to covid) demonstrates this in an interactive way, and with a roller coaster! 

– Involve other parties – to make the noise louder, Tony is trying to mobilise the whole industry, and that Sweet Solution mimicking big brands is spreading the issue-awareness and calling on everyone in the trade to act. And they created page for consumer to sign the petition to make 100% slavery-free chocolate a law. So everyone becomes part of the campaign.

– Be honest and transparent to any challenges – you will have to face strong challenges being the disruptor and so outspoken of your POV, Tony is no exception, for example, they were removed from list of ethical chocolate companies by Slavefreechocolate.org for working with a big supplier that ties with child slavery. Tony then had a very convincing response published on their website, having all the questions answered, and honestly, instead of shaking up my faith in them, that letter strengthens my belief on what they want to do. Check out their reply on high sugar issue, honest and lovable too.

I would never know the slavery in chocolate production if it’s not Tony and now I’m enjoying chocolate guiltlessly. 

2. The best storyteller with engaging content creation. 

– The brand name itself is already drawing curiosity of the story behind. 

– The non-standard square piece bar is another conversation piece for people.

– The chocolate wrapper has many stories to tell, inside out. 

– Videos. Being a in general not so patient person, I watched the entire 22-minute of their Choco Evangelist Ynzo’s talk on the company…and now, like many Tony’s fans, I look forward to have English subtitle for their Dutch documentary of the company’s journey to slavery-free chocolate. 

– Go check their product page on the website, each short description would make you smile. 

That all says something. It can be easy to create a brand with mission, but you have to create content to let everyone stop and listen to your pitch. 

3. The strong brand personality of being crazy as well as serious shines through all platforms and the whole shopper journey. 

The brand is shouting from the shelf with their packaging and chunky size. Most importantly, the strong branding is consistent across all channels and everything they do, including human resource management. I guess this the point needs no further illustration, a simple scroll through of their website and social channels would do.  Besides, the ex CEO of Innocent (another brand with stunning marketing) is going to head Tony’s Chocolonely from Oct 2022, I have high hopes for the future of the brand.

One thing I think the brand can do better, being a chocolate producer, is to show their effort on the taste creation, I still expect a delicious chocolate from a chocolate and that can expand their audience size too.