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World Chocolate Day: Why We Love Tony's Chocolonely
By Emily Rivers - 16th June 2025
World Chocolate Day will soon be upon us, and though we don't need an excuse to obsess over one of the most delicious sweet snacks the world over, we're ready to celebrate on Monday 7th July. Chocolate is a versatile snack, used to create some of the most delicious recipes in delicacies around the world, so it's no surprise that it has its own day of global celebration. Armed with bars from our favourite chocolate brand Tony's Chocolonely, we'll be ensuring a sweet treat (or two) is enjoyed on World Chocolate Day.
Where did World Chocolate Day originate?
While it's not widely known where the national holiday World Chocolate Day started, it is thought that the date (7th of July) commemorates the day chocolate was introduced to Europe in 1550. Over the years and centuries that followed this introduction, chocolate has steadily become a staple in so many diets across the world. Whether dark, milk, or white, it is no bold claim to say that chocolate helped to revolutionise the culinary world as we know it, and it doesn't look to be going anywhere any time soon.
What is so special about Tony's Chocolonely?
While they create some of the most spectacular chunky chocolate bars, bagged chocolates, and seasonal treats, there is so much more to Tony's and what they represent. The brand was created - and continues to exist - to end all forms of exploitation in the cocoa industry. Not only are they injecting fun, nostalgia, and flavour into traditional chocolate, they're also going to great lengths to fix social, ethical, and economic issues that have wracked the cocoa trade for years.
By deliberately sourcing cocoa from Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire where more than 60% of the world's cocoa is produced, they're choosing not to turn a blind eye to the enormous difficulties in the industry. With child, slave, and forced labour rife in these two countries, their efforts to bring ethical practices into play are more needed than ever. There is also an unfair distribution of value and power in the chocolate industry and its supply chains, and Tony's is stepping ahead of so many huge rival chocolate brands to ensure they're facing these issues head on in order to make great change.
The industry issues don't just stop with societal challenges, either, as cocoa production across the world causes mass eco-system disruption. With 60,000 hectares of tropical forest being destroyed for cocoa production since 2019, Tony's passion for eco-friendly practices is a breath of fresh air in an industry saturated with brands whose main focus is profit.
What does the Tony's Chocolonely name stand for?
Tony's was founded by Teun van de Keuken, a Dutch journalist who launched a crusade against child slavery in the chocolate industry on a customer watchdog show in the Netherlands. Teun was so shocked to discover how prevalent slavery was in the cocoa industry that he attempted to discuss it with other large chocolate corporations, but unfortunately none would listen. Leading by example, he manufactured 5,000 Fairtrade chocolate bars and began selling his creations, spreading the Tony's name and manifesto to affect change as widely as he could. During this process, he noticed just how lonely he felt as the head of a chocolate company with a strong intention to eradicate slavery from the production process, and therefore named his chocolate bars ‘Chocolonely’.
What are Tony’s doing to make all chocolate 100% slave free?
Not only do Tony's want to make their chocolate slavery-free, they also want to change the game and create a ripple effect across the entire cocoa production industry by making 100% slave-free chocolate the norm. They’re constantly adapting their methods to achieve this goal, adopting a strong roadmap that focuses on three main pillars as below:
Tony’s creates awareness
Since their origin in 2005, Tony's has made it their mission to empower cocoa farmers and communities by bestowing some knowledge about what is and isn't allowed, as they believe that change only happens when awareness is widespread. The brand ambassadors aim to achieve a great level of ethical understanding through ongoing education, public talks, and gatherings with the intention to educate, inform, and inspire the parents and children of these communities.
Tony's ambition has always been to shout about the inequalities of the chocolate industry so loud that it is hard for consumers and retailers to ignore. The dream is that this knowledge is so widespread that people demand slavery-free chocolate.
Tony's leads by example
Since 2012, Tony's has actively shown that chocolate can be made differently, ensuring that every area of the supply chain is happy. Tony's have always made it their mission to show that chocolate can easily be made without slavery or exploitation. Investing in strong partnerships, agricultural knowledge and training, and support for their farming cooperatives helps them to improve productivity, ensuring everyone can earn a better income. Paying them at a higher price helps to make this change happen, and making every chocolate bar with 100% traceable cocoa ensures they know exactly where it's come from and how ethically it has been grown and harvested.
Tony's inspires to act
The final pillar of Tony's roadmap is to inspire others to take action too. Since 2019, they have made it their mission to actively seek out partners that are interested in applying their business model and show them the impact this could be making on the industry as a whole. They encourage these brands to source cocoa via their 5 Sourcing Principles in order to affect change. Tony's are constantly challenging themselves to find new ways to have an even greater impact, and are very much learning as they go. Instead of keeping profits to themselves by keeping the product unique to them, they want to show everyone in the industry that 100% slave-free chocolate can become the new normal, and ultimately end exploitation in cocoa.
Why do Tony's chocolate bars look so unusual?
Many mainstream chocolate brands product chocolate bars with perfectly uniform sections, making it easy to snap off a piece or two (or ten) while sharing the bar with someone else. Tony's wanted to use this iconic image to represent the inequality across the cocoa industry in an innovative design feature of their chocolate bars. If you've ever torn the colourful paper off an iconic Tony's Chocolonely bar, you'll have seen that each piece is a different shape and size, making it harder to share equally. While one person may receive a large section when they break the bar apart, the person they're sharing with will receive a piece much smaller. Tony's believe this represents the inequality in the industry, and the unfairness of the supply chain.
The average cocoa farmer in the Ivory Coast earns 78 euro cents a day. No one can live off such a low wage, let alone support a family, too. On top of that, at least 30,000 people in West Africa are victims of modern slavery, and as it's not just adults this affects, this issue is even greater than one can imagine. Children are being forced to help grow and harvest cocoa while not receiving a penny for it.
In mid-2017, the price of cocoa dropped by 40% due to record harvests. In the Ivory Coast, the money that farmers get for their cocoa dropped by nearly 40%, too, causing extreme poverty for lots of families across the country. Chocolate companies saved $4.7 billion on the purchase of beans, but not one of them cut their retail prices, meaning profits for them were abundant. This left a bitter taste in the mouth of Tony's.
Tony's has declared that for as long as the chocolate industry remains unjustly and unequally divided, their bars will too.
What can we expect from Tony's Chocolonely bars?
It's hard to understand the magic of a Tony's chocolate bar without tasting it for yourself. Many Tony's fans will have their favourite flavour, and despite this, will be quick to try new flavours as soon as they're available.
If you're a fan of simple but delicious, the classic Milk Chocolate bar is the one for you. Chunky, creamy, melt-in-your mouth 32% milk chocolate wrapped in a bright red wrapper, perfect for literally any occasion. This is the first bar Tony's ever made, too, so a truly revolutionary bar worth celebrating.
For those with a niche for nutty, the Milk Chocolate & Hazelnut bar is one you can't miss trying. Sweet, silky, and oh-so nutty, this addictive textured bar is chock full of yummy hazelnuts, perfect for nut lovers.
If sweet snacks to remind you of your youth are what you're after, you can't go wrong with the White Chocolate Raspberry Popping Candy Bar. Super sweet raspberry-flavoured white chocolate peppered with popping candy is a great party-friendly bar, destined to be shared with other chocolate lovers.
Sometimes it's hard to decide exactly what you want in your chocolate bar, and if you love a bit of everything all at once, the Milk Chocolate Everything Bar is perfect. Smooth milk chocolate filled with almond pieces, crunchy pretzel, silky caramel, soft nougat, and a sprinkling of sea salt make this bar a mouth-watering treat that nobody will be able to resist.
With many more bars, snacks, and seasonal treats to explore, Tony's Chocolonely truly have something for every self-confessed chocaholic.
It's Tony's sheer commitment to making the entire chocolate trade as ethical and slave-free as they are that makes us proud to stock their products and support their brand. They're also dedicated to supporting sustainable practices in the manufacturing process and therefore every chocolate bar they produce comes wrapped in fully recyclable paper and foil wrapping.
We've already given a million reasons why we adore Tony's, and we're incredibly proud to admit that Tony's is the only chocolate we'll be indulging in on World Chocolate Day! If, like us, you're a big fan, or you want to explore what Tony's have to offer, why not browse our range and pick up a sweet snack to kickstart your World Chocolate Day?
