Mission
B-Corp, Fairtrade-certified chocolate-maker Tony’s Chocolonely puts social impact before profit – going beyond certifications because of its mission to make the chocolate production chain 100% free of illegal child labour and modern slavery. Not just for its own chocolate, but all chocolate worldwide.
There was a clear opportunity for Tony’s Chocolonely to launch a consumer-focused campaign which used the Farmgate price drop to highlight inequality in the chocolate industry. The price drop meant that while ‘Big Choco’ – the multinational chocolate food producers – made billions in profits, it made life much harder for the growers and farmers directly affected by the change. This is the hidden problem that consumers don’t see.
Campaign
Seven Hills worked with Tony’s Chocolonely to develop The Big Choco Sale campaign, breaking down the complexities of the issue into an easy-to-understand message that could gain greater cut-through in the media and among consumers. To raise awareness of the issue, Seven Hills developed gifting content which was shared with social media influencers across the UK, secured media interviews with international outlets and coverage across key business publications, and created social media content to engage directly with consumers. The campaign targeted Big Choco and urged firms to respond to Tony’s call for a fair living wage for all cocoa farmers.
“Poverty is the root cause of the problems in cocoa – whether its child labour or modern slavery or deforestation … If we want to solve these things, we have to tackle the problem and the thing we need to tackle is “pay more for cocoa”.’ – Paul Shoenmakers, Tony’s Chocolonely’s Head of Impact
Momentum
The Big Choco Sale campaign secured high-profile media coverage in the likes of CNBC and Metro – with a total media reach of 40.5 million – and engaged thousands of social media users to deliver a strong message to the market. The campaign resulted in Big Choco firms such as Mars Wrigley, Ferrero, Cadbury maker Mondelez International, Lindt & Sprungli and Nestle releasing statements of good intent and action as a result of pressure put on them by the campaign. The campaign also raised awareness of inequality in the chocolate industry in general and established Tony’s Chocolonely as a leading voice in the drive for greater support for cocoa farmers.
