Tony's reponds
3 december 2018
What a cool week and what media attention for Tony’s Chocolonely. We shared big news on Tony's FAIR. Click here to read our annual fair report again. Among all the headlines also some strange ones ...
"Gadverdamme what an annoying piece in Quote." Is the app that I got from my buddy Maarten Boer. Whether I made someone angry at Quote? Well, not that I know, I haven't spoken to anyone and what it says is simply not correct. Cycle by yourself on Monday anyway. On the front page of last Friday's FD, too enthusiastic pen-lickers talked (nice word): "Tony’s Chocolonely seeks shelter with multinational." Anyway, if you look up the press yourself, this apparently belongs to it. I can laugh about it.
Still, I feel the need to respond for a moment to explain and nuance things.
Tony’s Chocolonely is an impact organization that makes chocolate and not a chocolate company that makes an impact. That seems the same, but in my view it is essentially something else. 100% slave-free chocolate is our goal, not just our chocolate, but all chocolate worldwide. Selling chocolate successfully commercially is a means to achieve that goal. No goal in itself.
The collaboration with Albert Heijn and Barry Callebaut, announced at Tony's FAIR, is an example of this. With Tony’s Open Chain we open up the way we work to other companies. Albert Heijn and Barry Callebaut are the first partners. This is good for the scalability of the impact in West Africa, but it is still very uncertain whether that will affect the chocolate sales of Tony’s Chocolonely.
My frustration about the Child Labor Initiative Act or the VAT increase vs a calorie tax hardly gets a podium. Unfortunately. In desperation, we are going to advertise for the first time to get these crucial issues on the stage.
And we intend to realize Tony’s Chocolonely Chocolate Circus at De Vrede in the Zaan. A chocolate factory that is open to the public, where we want to show consumers how chocolate is made. What abuses still occur on cocoa plantations and how we can do something about it together and change the industry. And finally, we want to combine impact and fun with a roller coaster ride through the factory.
This way we want to make an impact beyond the boundaries of Tony’s Chocolonely.
The plans for Tony’s Chocolonely Chocolate Circus in particular entail quite a number of challenges and risks; think of financial, constructional, production-related, visitor-related etc etc. It is precisely by entering into partnerships that I expect to be able to limit these risks in order to realize the circus. We cannot do this alone - just like our mission "together we make 100% slave-free the norm in chocolate". That is why we are currently exploring the options for sharing the risks with others. Which does not mean that I want to fill my bags (sorry Quote) and that we are now selling it to a multinational (sorry FD). Because in everything we do, our goal (our impact) will be paramount and chocolate & money will remain a means to that end.
Medassi Henk Jan
"Gadverdamme what an annoying piece in Quote." Is the app that I got from my buddy Maarten Boer. Whether I made someone angry at Quote? Well, not that I know, I haven't spoken to anyone and what it says is simply not correct. Cycle by yourself on Monday anyway. On the front page of last Friday's FD, too enthusiastic pen-lickers talked (nice word): "Tony’s Chocolonely seeks shelter with multinational." Anyway, if you look up the press yourself, this apparently belongs to it. I can laugh about it.
Still, I feel the need to respond for a moment to explain and nuance things.
Tony’s Chocolonely is an impact organization that makes chocolate and not a chocolate company that makes an impact. That seems the same, but in my view it is essentially something else. 100% slave-free chocolate is our goal, not just our chocolate, but all chocolate worldwide. Selling chocolate successfully commercially is a means to achieve that goal. No goal in itself.
The collaboration with Albert Heijn and Barry Callebaut, announced at Tony's FAIR, is an example of this. With Tony’s Open Chain we open up the way we work to other companies. Albert Heijn and Barry Callebaut are the first partners. This is good for the scalability of the impact in West Africa, but it is still very uncertain whether that will affect the chocolate sales of Tony’s Chocolonely.
My frustration about the Child Labor Initiative Act or the VAT increase vs a calorie tax hardly gets a podium. Unfortunately. In desperation, we are going to advertise for the first time to get these crucial issues on the stage.
And we intend to realize Tony’s Chocolonely Chocolate Circus at De Vrede in the Zaan. A chocolate factory that is open to the public, where we want to show consumers how chocolate is made. What abuses still occur on cocoa plantations and how we can do something about it together and change the industry. And finally, we want to combine impact and fun with a roller coaster ride through the factory.
This way we want to make an impact beyond the boundaries of Tony’s Chocolonely.
The plans for Tony’s Chocolonely Chocolate Circus in particular entail quite a number of challenges and risks; think of financial, constructional, production-related, visitor-related etc etc. It is precisely by entering into partnerships that I expect to be able to limit these risks in order to realize the circus. We cannot do this alone - just like our mission "together we make 100% slave-free the norm in chocolate". That is why we are currently exploring the options for sharing the risks with others. Which does not mean that I want to fill my bags (sorry Quote) and that we are now selling it to a multinational (sorry FD). Because in everything we do, our goal (our impact) will be paramount and chocolate & money will remain a means to that end.
Medassi Henk Jan