"Anti-slavery chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely finds 1,700 child workers in supply chain", 6 February 2022

The anti-slavery chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely has admitted that at least 1,700 child labourers were involved in making its confectionery last year.

...in the year to April 2021, Tony’s found 1,701 cases of child labour in its supply chain, a huge rise from 387 the previous year....

The number of child labourers used by Tony’s suppliers was revealed in its annual “fair report” which said: “While we’ve never found any cases of modern slavery in our supply chain, we do find cases of child labour. But before your alarm bells go off, know this: finding cases of child labour in the supply chain means change is happening. We want to find the children performing illegal labour. Only then can we work with the families to address the problem.”

Tony’s gets its beans from Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. It then uses...Barry Callebaut...to turn these into liquid chocolate on a production line segregated from the rest of the factory, to ensure traceability.

Barry Callebaut identified 21,258 cases of child labour in its supply chain, according to a report. Critics say working with Barry Callebaut allows the company to save money, but Tony’s said it paid “more to ensure our cocoa beans are fully segregated”.

Lyn Riggs, founder of Slave Free Chocolate, said Tony’s was “pitching virtue to consumers” but was “completely dependent on its relationship with Barry Callebaut to make and sell chocolate which is in fact tainted by child labourers”. Last year Tony’s was removed from the Slave Free Chocolate list of “ethical companies”...because of its links to Barry Callebaut.

Explaining rising numbers of exploited children in its supply chain, Tony’s said growing sales meant it was now working with more co-operatives. The firm said it had “remediated” 366 cases of child labour in 2020-21, an increase of 67 per cent on the previous year. This can involve interventions such as arranging birth certificates for children so they can attend school or vocational training....

Paul Schoenmakers, head of impact at Tony’s, said: “We pay more to ensure our fully traceable cocoa beans are kept separate from Barry Callebaut’s. This full visibility means we can state that we have never found any cases of modern slavery in our supply chain.”

A spokesman for Barry Callebaut said: “We strongly condemn forced labour, slavery and all practices that exploit both adults and children or expose them to harmful or hazardous conditions. Barry Callebaut has committed to eradicate child labor from its supply chain by 2025.”