One bite of the rich, smooth, sweet and salty chocolate delight that is Tony’s Chocolonely Milk Caramel Sea Salt, which we sent our members in their September 2020 Gin of the Month box, and you can tell that it is made by a team that is just as crazy about chocolate as we are about gin!
What you may not know, however, is that the team at Tony’s Chocolonely are also hugely passionate about using their chocolate to help fight modern slavery in the chocolate industry.
Find how they are going about their mission for change and learn our favourite cocktail to enjoy with their remarkable chocolate bars!
Martinez
This cherry-scented gin cocktail is deep, rich and smooth with a lightly spiced, sweet edge. It’s the perfect match for those similar luxurious traits that we love in Tony Chocolonely Milk Caramel Sea Salt.
Ingredients
40ml gin (Stranger & Sons Gin works amazingly well in this recipe)
20ml Sweet vermouth (we like Martini Rosso)
10ml Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters
Cherries, to garnish (optional)
Twist of orange rind, to garnish (optional)
Method
Stir all ingredients with lots of ice and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cherries or a twist of orange rind or both.
Mix up this fabulous cocktail and sit back with a big slab of chocolate as you read all about the fantastic work Tony’s Chocolonely are doing!
Raise the bar!
The very idea of modern slavery in the chocolate industry may come as a shock. Isn’t slavery-free chocolate just a given? When Dutch journalist Teun van de Keuken went to investigate that question for himself in 2003, he was appalled to find that slavery, exploitation and illegal child labour was happening on the cocoa farms of West Africa. He decided to do something about it. He founded Tony’s Chocolonely: the company that created the brilliant chocolate bar in your box.
“Tony’s explicitly exists to end slavery in the chocolate industry. We’re an impact company that makes chocolate, rather than a chocolate company that makes an impact. It’s an important distinction.”
Changing a whole industry is no easy task, and Tony’s team was determined to lead by example. They realised that in order to stop modern slavery, the way profits were distributed in the supply chain had to change. After some serious research, the folks at Tony’s came up with five rules for sourcing slave-free cocoa – all of which have to be followed in tandem to make a real difference.
Tony’s Five Rules for Sourcing Slave-Free Cocoa
1) Traceable Cocoa Beans:
Tony’s knows exactly where their cocoa comes from because they trade directly and on an equal footing with cocoa farmers and cooperatives they trust.
2) A Higher Price:
Tony’s pays cocoa farmers an additional premium so that they can earn a living income and invest in their farms.
3) Strong Farmers:
Tony’s invests in the cooperatives they work with, helping them become more professional and more organized – and a strong cooperative makes for strong farmers.
“Each cocoa farmer on their own doesn’t have that much power, but when they are organised within a cooperative, they have much more strength – they get training and support and the cooperative helps them negotiate the best prices.”
4) The Long Term:
Tony’s Chocolonely forms long-term relationships with cocoa farmers and cooperatives.
“A cocoa tree takes five years to grow, but if farmers don’t know if they’re getting paid next year they’re not going to risk investing in new cocoa trees. We have five-year contracts with the farmers so they have the security to invest in their futures.”
5) Improved Productivity:
Tony’s Chocolonely invests in the agricultural knowledge and skills of the farmers that produce its cocoa so that they can increase their cocoa crop and its quality and earn a higher income.
Their Milk Caramel & Sea Salt edition is divine - BUT WAIT! Even more incredible flavours await you on our online shop; just thank us later once you’ve tried their Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat and Dark Milk Pretzl Toffee (O.M.G.)
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