In 2007, journalist Teun van de Keuken turned himself in for eating chocolate. He claimed that by buying chocolate he was benefiting from child slavery and he wasn’t wrong.
The cocoa supply chain is shaped like an hourglass. The chain starts with millions of farmers that produce cocoa and ends with the billions of consumers like us that enjoy chocolate.
But what about the bit in between?
This section is dominated by a small group of chocolate giants that profit from keeping the cocoa purchasing price as low as possible. For the farmers, this creates a poverty trap that leads to illegal child labor and modern slavery.
From this revelation, Tony’s Chocolonely was born. By raising awareness with great marketing, leading by example in producing their own chocolate, and inspiring othersto act with initatives like the Open Chain they aim to make 100% slave free chocolate the industry norm.
Today’s episode is an awesome example of how a strong vision can shift an industry. I sit down with Joke Aerts to discuss how Tony’s got started, how the chocolate supply chain works, the power of transparency and collaborations, and how we can make 100% slave free chocolate the industry norm.
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