Tony’s Chocolonely: creating a slave free chocolate brand - Ben Greensmith

Tony's Chocolonely is on a mission to make chocolate free of child-labour and slavery worldwide. I catch up with Lord Chocolonely III, or Ben Greensmith who runs Tony's in the UK about what it's like to run a mission-focused challenger brand in 2021.

About Ben

Ben started his career in food and drink over 20 years ago at IRI and then working for Unilever in a mixture of sales and category management roles. He joined innocent drinks in 2007 and was there for 8 years, holding a number of senior commercial roles and helping build the UK business that was eventually sold to Coca-Cola in 2013 for £0.5 billion. He left in 2015 to join Proper Snacks, most recently holding the position of Chief Operating Officer. Ben has been working for Tony’s Chocolonely since September 2018 as employee number 1 in the UK and is responsible for leading the business in the UK and Ireland. His official job title is Lord Chocolonely iii.

About Tony's

At Tony’s Chocolonely our mission is to make chocolate free of child-labour and slavery; not just our chocolate but all chocolate worldwide. Tony’s has been around for 15 years in our home country, the Netherlands, where we’re now the number 1 brand with a 20% market share. Tony’s launched in the UK in January 2019 and already the 6th biggest chocolate bar brand and the fastest growing.

What we covered in this episode

Being named Lord Chocolonely iiiHow the packaging was invented in 15minsThe truth about inequality in the cocoa supply chainThe food unwrapped programme that inspired Tony’sHow Tony prosecuted himself for crimes against chocolateThe lonely battle to end child labour that created ChocolonelyThe principles that ensure Tony’s helps make production slave freeWhy Tony’s wants the competition to copy themChallenging the removal of an endorsement by Slave Free OrgThe different ways Tony’s are making an impact on living wagesWhy Tony’s bars are created with unequal chunksHow Ben convinced Tony’s to let him launch the brand in the UKCreating a £30m chocolate business in just 3 yearsChallenger brand lessons from Tony’sHow Tony’s rate of sale compares to the Chocolate giantsThe price per gram of Tony’s and how it comparesCreating headline news with an Advent calendarSPOILER ALERT: some days may contain extra chocolateCelebrity endorsement for the calendarCustomer reaction to the missing chocolate on Day 8Getting on Have I Got News For YouWhat should be making the newsResults of Uncensored CMO poll asking whether it was a good moveWhy Tony’ back a sugar tax and High Sugar, Fat & Salt (HFSS) legislationAnswering the challenge of being responsible for making people fatHow to protect your culture as your business growsCrazy about chocolate and serious about peopleThe power of healthy dissatisfactionHow to be more outspoken in 2022The importance of fitness to create energy for the demands of the job