Children in ‘floods of tears’ after ‘woke’ chocolate brand leaves day in advent calendar empty

13 December 2024, 14:17

A chocolate brand previously branded as “woke” has left children in floods of tears after it deliberately kept a day empty on its advent calendar to highlight inequality in the industry.

For every December day on Tony's Chocolonely’s Christmas calendar, customers can find Belgian fairtrade milk, dark, and white chocolate treats infused with a range of flavours.

That is, apart from December 8.

The Dutch chocolate company says it has purposefully left this day of the month blank to represent inequality in the chocolate supply chain and the slave and child labour that is common practice in the industry.

The move has sparked a furious backlash from customers, who have posted complaints across its social media channels after their children were left in “floods of tears”.

One customer, Rebecca Winward, wrote: 'My eight-year-old daughter was in floods of tears at the disappointment.

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“She has ADHD and is awaiting a possible autism diagnosis, so what seems like small upsets to others are a big deal to her.”

Another wrote on Facebook: “You're preaching to the converted though aren't you? Not a cheap calendar not easy to explain to children why they have no chocolate today.”

Tony’s mission to challenge the ​​slave labour seen in the chocolate industry supply chain has drawn criticism in the past, with critics calling it “woke”. 

But not everyone has been left outraged by the firm's principles.

Kevin Thomas said: “Hats off to you for this! “It was my turn to open the advent calendar today. My groan of disappointment had the children rushing in to make sure I was okay.“

This is a brilliant way to highlight the unfairness and inequality of the chocolate industry and the gotcha moment will stay with me, probably forever.

Defending the move, a small message of explanation was provided on TikTok on December 8. It read: “If you have our big countdown calendar, you would have missed out on a choco today.

“It’s unequally divided because the chocolate industry is unequally divided. 

“The bitter truth is 1.56 million children in cocoa-growing families are involved in child labour in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. 

“At Tony’s, we exist to change that. By chomping on our choc, you’re helping us break the mould to end exploitation in cocoa, bar by bar, bite by bite. Are you in?”

Tony's spokeswoman Nicola Matthews said: 'There was a message next to 8 on the left-hand side explaining that our calendar was unequally divided.

“Our intention was to increase issue awareness because only when people are aware that there is a bitter side to the chocolate industry can they choose more consciously and demand change from the big chocolate companies.”

“I will forever be opening door number 10 with a degree of trepidation in future and the reminder of the unfairness that exists in the manufacture of something we take for granted.”