Tony's famous beans

Have you heard it yet? Soon there will only be well-known beans in your Tony's bar. So then you know exactly where all – yes, note all – cocoa beans in your Tony's bar come from. Namely from our partner cooperatives Kapatchiva and ECOJAD in Ivory Coast and ABOCFA and Suhum Union in Ghana. But hey, we hear you thinking... hasn't that been the case for a long time? Well, for a large part of the cocoa beans, namely those for the cocoa mass. But we couldn't yet make cocoa butter from our well-known beans. We would be happy to tell you how. But sit down for a while, because it's quite a story..

Cocoa butter and cocoa mass
We start at the beginning. To make chocolate you need cocoa mass and cocoa butter. For this you need two different batches of cocoa beans. One batch of cocoa beans is heated and the roasted cocoa beans are ground into cocoa mass. The fat is pressed from the other batch of cocoa beans, the liquid oil is the cocoa butter that makes your chocolate so deliciously creamy. Piece of (chocolate) cake, huh? Well, not if you want to work with well-known beans..

Among the big boys
The cocoa mass in our chocolate has been made especially for us for a number of years by Barry Callebaut (the largest chocolate maker in the world) using our own well-known beans. But making cocoa butter with the cocoa beans from our partner cooperatives is much more difficult in Barry Callebaut's large factory. And, do you remember…? We want to work with a major chocolate maker, because then our way of making chocolate is an example to follow for all the big chocolate guys worldwide. Because only together can we make chocolate 100% slave-free.

Trace-watteh?
Traceable cocoa butter (i.e. cocoa butter with well-known beans) has been on our wish list for a long time, but that was not possible alone. And now Barry Callebaut has agreed to adapt its chocolate factory and processes for us. A cocoa butter tank has been installed at Barry Callebaut all just for Tony's Chocolonely's own cocoa butter, with... Tony's famous beans. And new pipes are being installed to add the cocoa butter to make our chocolate. A lot of work to be done... er chocolate factory, but from November we will have well-known beans for the cocoa mass and cocoa butter in all Tony's bars. So we're turning on the disco balls! Yihaaa, cameras ready, prepare to flash!

Well-known Tony's bean
And just a little bit more... what exactly does it mean to be a well-known bean at Tony's? Well, a lot. It means that:

• we know where the beans come from;
• a higher price has been paid for the cocoa;
• the beans are harvested by farmers who work together in cooperatives;
• we have long-term relationships with the cooperatives;
• we work together to achieve higher quality and productivity.

All with the aim that cocoa farmers rise above the poverty line and that they can earn a sustainable, livable income, so that the cocoa is harvested without slavery and exploitation. And this is how we make chocolate 100% slave-free.

Read the official press release here (well, more official than you're used to from us eh? It's an official moment).