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It all began when\u00a0 Dutch journalist Teun van de Keuken, or \u201cTony,\u201d turned himself in for being a \u201cchocolate criminal\u201d in 2003. His crime? Paying for chocolate that used exploitative practices along the cocoa value chain. After a trial, he wasn\u2019t found guilty of the said crime, but he made it his mission to turn chocolate into a vehicle that could spread awareness about all the things that needed to change in the cocoa industry.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And so, in 2005, Tony\u2019s Chocolonely was born\u2014with its bright packaging and punchy messaging.\u00a0Nearly 20 years on, little has changed about the spirit of the brand. Loud marketing stunts are still central to what it does because it turns people\u2019s attention to the less talked-about, pressing issues. <\/p>\n
Take Tony\u2019s 2021 advent calendar, for instance. The company deliberately left out the chocolate on one of the days as a way to underscore the inequality in the cocoa industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That drew a lot of attention<\/a>\u2014and ire\u2014but ultimately, achieved the purpose of alerting consumers to the core problem, Tony\u2019s U.K. and Ireland boss Ben Greensmith told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt did a massive job for us in terms of raising brand awareness and issue awareness\u201d he said. \u201cSo we rely on stunts to gain attention.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Tony\u2019s approach may be different for a relatively new, unassuming chocolate maker\u2014but the results speak for themselves. The Netherlands-based company is now a big phenomenon in its home country with about 20% of the market share<\/a>, but also in the U.K., where it\u2019s now the fourth most popular chocolate in Britain following Galaxy, Lindt and Cadbury, according to Nielsen data. In just under five years, Tonys\u2019 turnover in the U.K. has hit \u00a340 million ($50.5 million) and it\u2019s the fastest growing confectionery brand in the country. The company is also reaching chocolate-lovers in the United States where they now sell at Walmart stores.<\/p>\n