‘Chocolate is something you eat for pleasure, until you discover the appalling things that happen on cocoa plantations. In the production of cocoa beans even children are being exploited. Slavery still exists. Dutch journalist and documentarian Tony van de Keuken met with former child slaves from Burkina Faso who worked without wages and under atrocious conditions on cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast.

“Knowing this,” Van de Keuken said, “Eating chocolate makes me a criminal.”

From art. 416 of the Dutch Penal Code:
Whoever receives goods…while knowing at the time he receives them or when they are made available to him…that it concerns unlawfully obtained goods is guilty of willfully receiving…unlawfully obtained goods and shall be punished by a term in prison of maximum four years or a Category Five fine.

And he ate another chocolate bar…

Criminals belong behind bars. So Tony van de Keuken turned himself in. In the meantime, he decided to produce his own chocolate bar.’

Recently, Tony brought Kohi Hermann Kam, who work as a slave on a cocoa plantation, to Holland to testify against him for eating chocolate made from slave cocoa. Tony also won a court case against a chocolate import company that claimed that no way he could guarantee his chocolate to be 100% slave free. The judge ruled in favor of Tony and the 100% slave free chocolate logo can stay on the wrapper of his chunky chocolate bar.

What does slave free chocolate taste like?
Well, first of all it has all the right ingredients: raw cane sugar, cocoa, cocoa butter and real vanilla. It has the right consistency and melts in the mouth and your hands like real chocolate ought to. It’s easy to share with others, in fact it only tastes better when you do. And finally it works great in any dessert or chocolaty drink. Children will love it especially. And as a grown up I hope there will also be a bitter sweet dark version in the near future, that would be appropriate…

All chocolate 100% slave free!
I hope there are initiatives as brave as Tony’s’ in other countries. If you can find some slave free chocolate today, I suggest you make the wonderful ‘Mousse au chocolat au lait et au caramel au beurre salé’ that Fanny of Food Beam posted in July of last year. That’s what I am going to make with my Tony Chocolonely for Ed. It’s Valentine after all…

Source and additional info:
Website Keuringsdienst van waarde
tv episodes of Tony’s quest against child slavery on cacao plantations (mostly Dutch)
Website Tony Chocolonely.