MEET TONY 101

Well, Tony is really Teun

TeunvandeKeuken is a Dutch TVjournalist on the consumerreportTVshowKeuringsdienstvanWaarde(KVW). In 2003, Teunhimself called the police and asked to prosecute him as a chocolate criminal.

Broke chain

Well, Tony is really Teun

Teun van de Keuken is a Dutch TV journalist on the consumer report TV show Keuringsdienst van Waarde (KVW). In 2003, Teun himself called the police and asked to prosecute him as a chocolate criminal.

CrazySerious

back in 2003

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Instead of suing Big Chocos for using illegal forms of labor, Teun thought of a Dutch law called “fencing” which basically means that if you knowingly purchase a product made illegally, you’re also responsible for that crime.

So, Teun sat down in front of a camera

Rec it
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Ate several chocolate bars that were likely made using illegal forms of labor

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Hello police

And then he called the police...

neeenore
Handcuffs

The idea was that if one person can be prosecuted as a chocolate criminal for eating chocolate from Big Chocos, then that makes eating chocolate a crime.

Good idea

But, ehm, as you can probably imagine, that idea didn’t pan out either. The case was dismissed because it was decided it was impossible to prove with 100% certainty whether the bars had been made with illegal child labor.

Not guilty

So, all that was left to do was to take matters into his own hands

Teun and the crew of KVW went to work and made 5,000 Fairtrade, traceable milk chocolate bars.
Each bar was wrapped in bright red packaging and called “Tony’s Chocolonely”, ‘cause Tony (an English way of saying Teun) felt lonely in his fight to end modern slavery and illegal child labor in the cocoa industry.
This was supposed to be a one-off kinda thing, but the bars were such a hit and the demand for chocolate made differently was so strong that...

Tony’s Chocolonely was officially born

YummyTastyFairness

And where is Teun today?

Well, he’s doing what he does best: journalism. Teun firmly believes that a good reporter should be unbiased.. and having a stake in the world of business creates a natural bias.

So, after a few years of getting Tony’s Chocolonely up and running, Teun stepped away from the company.

Fair beansMake impact

But don’t worry, we keep in touch and Teun makes sure to keep us on our toes and consistently pushes us to make even more impact.