Have you also heard or read it? Yiiiiha! In three years you will be making a loop through Tony's chocolate factory in Amsterdam-Noord. Haven't heard anything about it? Then you must have been the one who did a 48-hour media detox last weekend. National newspapers, radio, TV and social media were and are full of it; tens of thousands of likes and comments on posts. Well... we didn't see that coming. To be honest, we are a bit blown away by it at Tony's Chocolonely. But yes, if you are busy planning roller coasters through chocolate factories, you often see the world upside down.
Because yes, we have a plan. Our Chief Chocolate Officer would not live up to his name if he had not been dreaming of having his own Tony's Chocolonely factory for years. Why? Because he thinks 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is such a good book or because he would rather be called Willy Wonka? No. Because Tony's Chocolonely has a vision that is even bigger than a factory with a roller coaster through it, namely 100% slave-free chocolate. Not just our chocolate. But all chocolate worldwide. How do we get there? We follow the pillars of our roadmap: 1. make people aware of the problem of slavery and exploitation in the chocolate world, 2. set a good example that chocolate making can be done differently and 3. inspire others to follow our example. Simple, right?
But do you know how many people actually know how to make chocolate? Where cocoa comes from? That cocoa beans to make chocolate are in a fruit that grows on a tree? That there are currently (yes now) slaves working on the cocoa plantations in West Africa, many of whom are children? Far too few people know this. And we don't think that's normal at Tony's Chocolonely.
If you want to change the cocoa industry and involve chocolate fans, you have quite a lot of explaining to do. Because there is a lot involved in making chocolate. Let alone making chocolate 100% slave-free. Of course we talk about this through our unevenly distributed bar, on the wrapper and even the inside of it, through our Tony's Talks, via social media, in our annual FAIR report and during our annual FAIR. But where a message about traceable cocoa mass and cocoa butter reaches a few thousand people, a message about a chocolate factory where you can come and smell and taste it yourself, learn the story of chocolate on a roller coaster ride through the factory, reaches a few million people. It's that simple.
We believe that you can solve a social world problem by taking it very seriously, but not just being very serious about it. Chocolate is a product that makes you happy. We are 'crazy about chocolate' and 'serious about people'. We love chocolate about the smell, the taste, how it melts in your mouth. We come up with the craziest flavor combinations that you just can't eat your fingers with. We pack our bars in brightly colored wrappers that will smile at you in the store. This way we show that things can be done differently. And if we have done our best, that will make you happy. Well, that's what we're going to achieve with the Tony's Chocolonely factory. With a roller coaster as a means to realize our vision of 100% slave-free chocolate. For 'a little fun along the way'. Are you in?