Tony's chocolate is a Dutch chocolate brand that claims to be 100% slave free. Indeed, child labor and modern slavery are the curse of the chocolate industry. As in every model of modern agriculture and supply chain this is explain by a pressure not in the middle of the chain leads by profits. Indeed, the cocoa producers are millions of small familial farms, and at the end of the chain, the consumer of chocolate who is also counts by billions. Unfortunately, the cocoa producers don’t sell directly to the consumer but have to trade with big companies who have the weight to make pressure on prices and productivity. And poverty can leads to child labor and modern slavery. Certifications or regulations are not sufficient to ensure an appropriate income for farmers.
“On its own, a certification label does not enable farmers to live above the poverty line and provide a decent income for their families.”
Tony’s Chocolate proposes several principles for the companies to act. To invest in farmers cooperatives who will act locally with the farmers and therefore organize a collective force. To pay the farmers more to increase their living income. And to set up a traceability of cocoa, because during the purchase and processing of cocoa beans by western companies, certified and non-certified beans are gathered to produce chocolate.
“If you buy a bar of chocolate made with certified cocoa you know that somewhere in the world the equivalent quantity of certified beans was purchased. But they're not necessarily in your bar.”