In 2007, journalist Teun van de Keuken turned himself into the Dutch authorities for eating chocolate.
He claimed that by buying chocolate he was benefiting from child slavery and he wasn’t wrong.
The cocoa supply chain is shaped like an hourglass. The chain starts with millions of farmers that produce cocoa and ends with the billions of consumers like us that enjoy chocolate. The section in between is dominated by a small group of chocolate giants that profit from keeping the cocoa purchasing price as low as possible. For the farmers, this creates a poverty trap that leads to illegal child labor and modern slavery.
From this revelation, Tony’s Chocolonely was born. By raising awareness with great marketing, leading by example in producing their own chocolate, and inspiring others to act with initiatives like the Open Chain they aim to make 100% slave free chocolate the industry norm.
Today’s episode is an awesome example of how a strong vision can shift an industry. I sit down with Joke Aerts to discuss how Tony's got started, the inner workings of the chocolate supply chain, the power of collaboration, and how we can make 100% slave free chocolate the industry norm.
Enjoy!
Let’s Clarify Your Vision
The foundation of any great company is a clear vision grounded in strong values. Together, this creates your company culture and as Peter Drucker once famously said, “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast.”
I’ve coached dozens of startup founders helping them to define their leadership style and navigate all the challenges that come with running a startup. It all starts with my signature coaching program, Values & Vision where we clarify your:
Vision for the company and yourself
Values
Leadership style
This is the foundation that will connect everything you do. It’s the north star to come back to time and time again.
Interested to learn more? Reply to this email and I’ll send you all the details.
PS: If you run a VC, incubator, or accelerator, let’s talk. I’m offering workshops on Designing Your Company’s Vision & Values. This is great for portfolio companies stuck in the weeds who need to zoom back out to their why.
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Episode Transcript
Analisa Winther, Future Food 06:07
Hi, Joke, welcome to the podcast. Super excited to have you here. And would love to start just with a little intro to who you are and what your position is at Tony's Chocolonely.
Joke Aerts, Tony's Chocolonely 06:17
Yeah, thanks for having me. My position, I'm actually very proud of my title. I am the Inspire to Actress at Tony's Chocolonely because Tony's Chocolonely has a roadmap that includes creating consumer awareness around the issues in cocoa, leading by example as an impact company that makes chocolate, and inspiring others to act. And that's really a big part of what I do. I've worked in sustainable agriculture, specifically tropical commodities, for over 20 years. I've worked all over Africa and Asia, a little bit in South America, in coffee, tea, and bananas. And now I work in cocoa for Tony's Chocolonely.
Analisa Winther, Future Food 06:52
All the good commodities. And I also understand in terms of your title, that when a new employee starts, you're kind of like anointed with a really interesting title like yours.
Joke Aerts, Tony's Chocolonely 07:03
We try not to be hierarchical. We try to just be inspiring and, yeah, just get the job done.
Analisa Winther, Future Food 07:10
What's the CEO called?
Joke Aerts, Tony's Chocolonely 07:11
I think he's the Choco Chief.
Analisa Winther, Future Food 07:15
Yeah. Just a little bit light-hearted. So I want to talk about how Tony's Chocolonely got started. Because as far as origin stories go for food companies, it's pretty interesting. Can you tell us a little bit of that backstory?