this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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[–] [email protected] 120 points 9 months ago (5 children)

when Tony’s Chocolonely started up based on slave free, the financial journals were doing headlines like “will they be able to survive this bold new direction?”

[–] [email protected] 45 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They eventually found the cocoa market to be almost impossible to separate from slavery. They still do their best, which is a lot more than most, but they don't make any guarantees

[–] [email protected] 25 points 9 months ago

They have some argument for doing business with one of the largest processors who’s not the worst but not provably ethical. Discouraging.

Found it:

At Tony’s, we exist so make all chocolate 100% slave-free, not just our own. That means climbing into the lion’s den and tackling change from within. It means getting to the root of the problem and paving the way for others by proving the scalability of our solutions.

Surprised that the processor, Barry Callebaut, is down for Tony to publish such blunt criticism of them. It’s like “don’t worry, Barry’s made a totally separate production line for us - only the Barry’s non-Tony production line contains the slave blood!”

[–] [email protected] 40 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

Man, capitalism is just fucking wild, isn't it?

[–] [email protected] 51 points 9 months ago (2 children)

like Nestlé getting out of a child slavery lawsuit because none of the slavery happened in the US?

[–] [email protected] 16 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Sometimes I wonder why mass shootings happen so often at universities and not at such HQs.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

Lack of education

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Fuck it, from where I come from: people in agriculture get smacked just by existing or trying to build common cause with "let's end hunger in the world". I'm with you, salutations from America Latina ! And let's make those fuckers get what they deserve.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago

Quando dou comida aos pobres, chamam-me de santo. Quando pergunto por que eles são pobres, chamam-me de comunista. (When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.)

—Dom Hélder Câmara, cited in Zildo Rocha, Helder, O Dom: uma vida que marcou os rumos da Igreja no Brasil (2000)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago
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[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

The biggest problem with claiming to be slave free is that you need to own the farms to make sure, which means the locals don't get those profits either.

Whittaker's is slave free but they can't advertise it because they support the local economies ... which means they can't be reasonably sure slaves aren't used when they're not looking.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I have yet to see proof that Tony's is actually slavery free. And if it isn't (as in "we are doing oUr BeSt") then why the hell would I buy from them instead of... not buying chooclate?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Because they pay a lot more to the producers.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Ok so they pay more to the slave owners... how does that help the slaves?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

They get whipped with gold plated chains instead of your low cost leather whips.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 9 months ago (5 children)
[–] [email protected] 27 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Because slavery is so prevalent in cocoa farms that it's impossible to guarantee that no slave labor was used. Even if they make an effort use ethical sources they still can't make that guarantee.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Well, yeah, but also, if this is Nestlé, it's likely just too expensive to make sure.

Gotta have that unsustainable, permanent growth.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

We are (big air quotes) "slave free".

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

ironically slave free …

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

It's the cartoon style. Notice the curve after "WE'RE" and above the c in "chocolate"

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

If I see quotes like that on packaging, I treat it as a verifiable lie

[–] [email protected] 52 points 9 months ago (3 children)

John Oliver covered this on Last Week Tonight. tl;dw Cocoa is almost exclusively grown in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, two West African countries. Most of these farms are family run and there are millions of them. All the Cocoa they produce is purchased by a few companies who dictate price. Because they buy at such a low price, the only way these farms make money is if they force children in their families to work the farm for no compensation. Ie. Child slavery.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago

The worst part is that the organizations that audit the farms in an effort to reduce slavery fail spectacularly. The Farms receive notice of the audit and what they hope not to find in advance, and then the audits only occur at most every 6 months but more likely every few years. A documentary team of students took a trip out to a few farms that receive these audits and found Child Slavery immediately.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

After watching that episode I started going out and buying, Tony Chocolonely. Gotta support good businesses.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Sadly I don't know how slave free Tony Chocolonely is, I was reading up about this the other day and they have been removed from the slave free chocolate list due to ties with big coco.

Article talking about it's removal - https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2021/02/16/Tony-s-Chocolonely-axed-from-Slave-Free-Chocolate-list-defends-ties-with-Barry-Callebaut

Slave free chocolate list - https://www.slavefreechocolate.org/ethical-chocolate-companies/

Hope this is helpful :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I highly doubt that nestle isn't using slave labor

[–] [email protected] 13 points 9 months ago

Not just children in their family, even children from other regions are kidnapped and forced to work on the farms. It's genuine, old fashioned, slavery.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 9 months ago

Y'all need to read about the chocolate wars and the trade of it if you're surprised about this. Now is also the one time in history where chocolate has been it's most ethical and least slavery driven. Chocolate has never been 100% ethical

[–] [email protected] 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Oh the printers always screw that up.

"We're Slavers. Free Chocolate!"

There, fixed.

Lionel Hutz

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago

No it's "slave free tm." Wich is just a trademark not a declaration.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)

*made by sustainable inmates

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I like how they tried to incorporate the quotation marks as some sort of quirky font by adding it above chocolate as well, yet it is still obvious.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They just work for free because of the "implications"

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Now with 40% less slavery!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

* Only applies to packaging.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Is that like gluten free? How many slaves are ground into a regular bar of chocolate?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It depends on how dark it is.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

I like my chocolate like I like this joke. Dark.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Wonder if it's like cagefree or free range chicken where the label is actually meaningless and could be actively misleading and still legal.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah probably when they say "slave free," they mean

our slaves are free because we don't have to pay for them 💡 😁

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

They call them serfs now. Feudalism is back baby.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

And Nestle is not even close to the worst chocolate maker: https://www.uow.edu.au/media/2023/at-chocolate-time-weve-discovered-what-the-brands-that-score-best-on-child-labour-and-the-environment-have-incommon.php

In the really shitty end of things are Mondelez and Unilever.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago

And Mars, and Hershey

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Wait til you learn where much of organic bat guano fertilizer is sourced.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago
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