Chocolonely's answer to a market that was not accustomed to recognize the need for slave-free. Given that you are a market leader in the Netherlands, booming on the world market, what is the difficult part you referred to? Our rapid growth shows that people are authentically motivated towards this positive change, in cocoa industry as in a thousand other fields. But even though we are present in around thirty countries, with offices in the US, the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as in the Netherlands, the biggest challenge for us always remains the same: being able to create the necessary awareness about what still is the bitter reality of the cocoa industry, therefore ensuring that other brands too can make a necessary U-turn. Yours is a bright practical example, as bright as the theory of the Oxford and Cambridge professor Kate Raworth also is, about the Doughnut Economy, a development paradigm for the twenty-first century promoting prosperity, more than growth alone… Absolutely yes – and Kate was our very welcome speaker during our last annual fair. Growth for growth’s sake is simply pointless, for a resource-constrained planet. Growth can only take place for the positive impact’s sake; having an ethical entrepreneurial basis is crucial, with a view to a more equal, diverse, inclusive, fair system. In the end, identifying a value for Tony’s Chocolonely represent a profit beyond profit , on a symbolic level – I’m thinking about the recent opening of a new venue of yours, in the heart of Amsterdam's harbor, exactly where, in the past, boats loaded with slaves were used to land – as well as on a concrete one. Of course. In our new chocolate shop, located indeed in a historic building in Amsterdam, we actively take care of showing information on the history belonging to that location. Financial success cannot be a goal in itself; or rather, we use it as a means towards a goal. In our case, the goal is crystal clear: a hundred percent slave-free chocolate on a worldwide scale. Who supports you on your journey? It got me thinking about an Oompa-Loompa team with a high ethical level, working for a kind of Willy Wonka with an equally high ethical sense... Pharrell Williams is a great supporter of our mission, as Idris Elba is too. But let me point out a slight adjustment: although there can be a lot of similarities between Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory and us, we absolutely cannot include the Oompa-Loompas among them. (Ed.’s Note: even Oompa-Loompas, under their sparkling uniforms and their hypnotic dance moves, are Mr. Wonka’s slaves, my bad). 27
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