Chocolate: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

John Oliver discusses chocolate, cocoa farming, and, of course, some facts that will make Halloween a little weird.
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[@TS-xn1mc]

“It is worse than you may realize” should be the motto of this show

[@alexpatrick2522]

Alternately, “White people suck.”

[@d1943i]

last week tonight - its worse than you may realize *insert high school pic of john oliver here someone call HBO's marketing team!

[@LawTaranis]

Wait... That isn't the motto? /j

[@MrSieben52]

"Whatever you're expecting, you're not ready for this" was heard like a thousand times on this show!

[@mythos2490]

@@d1943i Last week tonight: it’s worse than you may realise, but the lawyers are always in business!

[@camillehenley5238]

when i was in middle school, a teacher passed out chocolate candies to the class. after we happily ate them, she showed us a documentary on the cocoa industry. she was just preparing us for john oliver.

[@DebNKY]

At least you were better prepared than I was.

[@brandonayong5823]

" That chocolate is amazing Phoebe. How did you do it?" "Well my grandmother got it from her grandmother. Nesle Toulouse" ".... I'm sorry. What was the name again?" "Nesle Toulouse" "... Do you mean NESTLÉ TOOL HOUSE" "............ You américains always butcher the French language" If you know you know 😂

[@BigBadJerryRogers]

In my quest for elimination of sugar and eating as healthy as possible I still allow myself two squares of 100 percent cacao every day. You can't win. No you can't.

[@levisaidmyname]

That’s a way to make you think 😂 great teacher.

[@Krranski]

@@Joe-sg9ll What? How? Why is this evil? Honestly, this is the person doing better than most at their job in education.

[@ElementalNimbus]

Wow, I'm so impressed John managed to win "Most likely to be an economist based on appearance" when he was only 21. Such an inspiration.

[@rooharris9099]

😂😂🤣😂🤣

[@ttb1513]

20:00 Yeah, he certainly looks like he was 21 back in preschool.

[@caseycrowe3805]

Underrated comment 😂

[@shaunzink7542]

Oh man I needed that laugh after watching that!

[@lamoinette23]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@Mendelian]

Fun fact for those who don’t know: during the filming of the of the Dutch journalist which later founded Tony Chocolonely, he wanted that Ben & Jerry’s used slave free chocolate in their ice cream or at least tried, on camera they said great idea we would love to work together, but then when the cameras were “off” (they weren’t) Ben & Jerry’s told him he’d never succeed, never ever. Exactly 20 years later and now Ben & Jerry’s has special editions with Tony Chocolonely chocolate in them :)!

[@CollinMcLean]

Oh my goodness the brownie flavor was so fucking good...

[@weareallbornmad410]

I mean, it's not really a cute inspiring story that you seem to think it is. Just another horrific portrayal of greed and cynicism.

[@KM-rt5jj]

Thats horrible....

[@samnichols4361]

@@weareallbornmad410 Ben and Jerry's themselves are on the side of the good here, and always have been so it's not greed from them. What it is is cynicism over a supply chain that has been built using exploited labour, built from colonialism onwards and which is based around keeping the prices of what is basically a luxury product, not a commodity, at subsistence level. I am glad that Ben and Jerry's were wrong on this.

[@batkat0]

​@@samnichols4361 Exactly. People read what B&J said and imagine they were saying it gleefully. It's entirely possible they said what they said because they believed it and wanted to spare this person the disappointment of not being able to work around this horrible issue.

[@lizmiller1476]

As someone who worked in the Fairtrade chocolate industry for 6 years I am moved to tears that this topic is on John Oliver. My former company, Divine Chocolate, was trying to advocate for these same issues and deliver more through Fairtrade and farmer ownership - the company is co-owned by the cooperative of Ghanaian farmers who supply the cocoa and they have roles on the Board. I’m glad Oliver touched on the point that child labor isn’t the primary issue on its own - poverty is. It’s complex in many ways, but in some it’s not - as long as these enormous companies focus their efforts on maximizing profit, nothing with change. If farmers can have MORE of a share in the wealth they are essential for creating, these issues will improve. They need to have a voice in the industry and more opportunities to earn more.

[@Amy-Bo-Bamy]

Thank you for this comment! I purchase Divine chocolate regularly and knew they were fair trade but did not know the other info you stated. I'm very impressed and will continue to purchase Divine! I love their 85% bar.

[@Tedkelvin]

as an African i know more money will lead to corruption, asassinations, nepotism and looting of funds meant for the farmers by african leaders interested in these projects.

[@BirgitteRasine]

@@Amy-Bo-Bamy Same!

[@funveeable]

You must be lacking in long term thinking to be brought to tears by a British import with a case of heavy profanity. His solution to everything is more government regulation, as if the government isn't already in bed with the corporation to begin with.

[@brag0001]

​@@funveeable you must be lacking in any kind of thinking, if you couldn't anticipate that someone like me would follow up on your claim by asking what your solution would be. If you think that "don't allow slave labor in your product chain" is government overregulation, you are simply an a**hole. 🤷 These companies could prevent any regulation by acting in their own. They had decades to do so. Yet here we are ...

[@shoutingstone]

Tried Tony's for the first time a couple of months ago and thought it was one of the nicest chocolates ive had. Now hearing they're the 'good guys' fighting child slavery is even better. They definitely deserve more recognition.

[@nurselunaaudio3758]

The price isn't even THAT much more than water-stealing Nestle. And they are SO GOOD. I love finding them,.

[@stylis666]

I wasn't much a fan of their taste, and I'm just a 100 dollars a month away from poverty myself, and Tony's chocolate isn't the cheapest, but I honestly can't really keep buying cheap chocolate now that I know this. I will just adjust my taste. I did the same with sugar and vegetables to end a sugar addiction and I really like and enjoy vegetables now. My brain now recognizes it as something that feeds me without f'ing over my brains. I mean, if the cost is an issue, I will just eat less chocolate and enjoy it more when I eat it. Besides, Halloween isn't just chocolate. It's also popcorn and nacho's with cheese and all kinds of tasty crap! :D And lots of blood and gore and scary movies and dressing up as a scary monster! Happy Halloween! 👻🫁🦵🧛🧟‍♂🕷🕸👽😈

[@lzeph]

@@stylis666 Ending sugar addiction is HARD. I know; I did it too. Good for you! Happy Halloween back at ya!

[@lo-keyloki9986]

I tried it for the first time this year as well and Tony's legitimately slaps.

[@pvic6959]

omg i didnt know thie history of this. they have tonys at my works snack bar. great chocolate and now i feel better about it too

[@darylayertey6925]

As a Ghanaian, it always bothered me how much cocoa my country is responsible for producing yet receives so little of the profit it ends up making.

[@ludilo80]

That is because western governments still rule with African countries in neocolonyal style.

[@frostyfilmwatcher2148]

​@oddlywired7935 yes you are. It's the unfortunate truth that it's not realistic not to eat chocolate. By that measure never buy jeans, or a new car, or vegetables at the store. It's the unfortunate truth that in almost everything we buy, some poor person or child slave probably made it or farmed it. Not buying things is not gonna fix this, only complete overhauls to our very existence would change things and that simply isn't going to happen.

[@FeuerblutRM]

I visited Ghana twice already. Wonderful country & nice people. Since then I want to support the local cocoa farmers and only buy my cocoa and chocolate from "Fairafric", which runs the only chocolate factory of Ghana which keeps the production from cocoa bean to chocolate all in the country - all organic & fairtrade certified. And I LOVE their chocolate! Especially the one with Fleur de Sel. 🍫🤤Sadly I couldn't visit the factory myself despite staying in Koforidua (neighbor city of _Suhum_ where the factory is) Greetings to your people! I miss your country every day.

[@davidbeppler3032]

Do you send half your pay back to your family? So they don't have to send children to work?

[@davidbeppler3032]

@@frostyfilmwatcher2148 You can buy a Tesla. But that is about it.

[@fhey7903]

Finding out that journalist was the founder of Tony's was a bigger plot twist than any movie I've ever seen.

[@frankiefavero1666]

Right?! And now I've just bought so much of his chocolate... I hope it's good...

[@SLorenzo-in-cyberspace]

@@frankiefavero1666we also have that in Spain. Someone mentioned 2€ a bar, not really, here it’s around 3,50€ which is definitely pricey compared to 2€ nestle ones, but Tony’s is definitely the only chocolate I’ve been buying for years now.

[@Annava]

Did you like it? It's quite good I think

[@frankiefavero1666]

@@Annava omg loved it! Especially the caramel and sea salt one... delicious!

[@Annava]

@@frankiefavero1666 yes, it's my favourite too!

[@JFresh1977]

Big companies being deeply concerned is like politicians offering thoughts and prayers.

[@CorePathway]

How far back in history do you have to go to get to a time when this wasn’t the case?

[@SatansSimgma]

​@@CorePathwayuntil the 80s, if you went to gun showing asked for a semi automatic and a tactical vest, they would have called the cops.. so that faar

[@DBsNature]

non-politicians offering thoughts and prayers is the same as politicians offering thoughts and prayers.

[@JohnBorgen]

@@DBsNature Except politicians were elected to do something. Civilians get "the vote" (and those thoughts and prayers).

[@venenodelalengua]

speaking of which, is John Oliver doing an episode on chocolate because he's not allowed by the parent company to criticize Israel's ongoing genocide?

[@orlkorrect]

Spotlighting Tony's was a brilliant idea. If he said, "Chocolate production is inhumane, so maybe don't eat it," few would listen, and nothing would change. Instead he gets to say "Keep eating chocolate! Just don't buy slave labor chocolate!" I'm happy to take him up on that.

[@Algrokoz]

There's a very simple fix to this: invest money in the local economies where chocolate production occurs to allow chocolate farmers to create a distribution network and collectivize their sales of their crops. This is what grain farmers do in the United States in order to get the best price.

[@brandonchutt312]

I have found that chocolate produced using slave labor is 23% tastier 🤤

[@leonestello]

​@@brandonchutt312👎nobody likes you.👽

[@RustOnWheels]

@@brandonchutt312You’ve never tried Tony’s Chocolonely, that’s for sure! They have some quirky flavors but some are mind blowing in a good way!

[@TheIsabelStuff]

@@RustOnWheels the one with the toffee bits…makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Genuinely way tastier than a Hershey’s bar

[@jaymfom6963]

As a Cameroonian, a country which is the fourth biggest cocoa producer in the world and who knows too well about this, this story is very resonant! Thank you John!

[@lunchbox6576]

Have you tried going to your government to have them pass laws to protect coco farmers?

[@sheba19]

​@@lunchbox6576have you gone to your government about the ill treatment of workers in your country

[@Nostripe361]

⁠@@lunchbox6576trying to get your government to listen to you is nearly impossible in the us at this point so it’s basically impossible to get a government ranked so low on the corruption index to listen to you.

[@newview1998]

​@@lunchbox6576 Cameroons GDP is 45 bln $ Cargill revenue is 165 bln $ Guess who's gonna win if Cameroon decides to go against big corpo 😂 I would restate the question to you: have you decided to trully give up "child-labor" chocolate and educate your friends and family to also do it? It would make more difference than asking, a guy from Cameroon to talk to their government.

[@pawpkitty]

Chocolate is so amazing, I would not mind spending more to support farmers.

[@nogbugo]

I’m Ghanaian and I’m very impressed with this well-researched, educative and very important episode!

[@extropiantranshuman]

since you're in ghana - I was wondering how the chocolate situation is - and what can be done about it?

[@devonpendergast6803]

I saw this and said out loud, “aww man, what’s wrong with chocolate.”

[@ruairiodonohoe2533]

/same

[@GutsyTen42]

Nestle

[@blanket4763]

How cacao nuts are harvested to make chocolate

[@vietnamd0820]

You and me both 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@stephaniehaynes8609]

Same, lol

[@THEMithrandir09]

I love how most episodes basically end in "We need regulation because valuing human lives isn't that profitable."

[@qwertpoo1]

Just goes to show how sick the writers are and Oliver just goes along with whatever they tell him to say. Whether its animal sex jokes or children trafficking John loves all of it and will say it with a smile.

[@misspat7555]

Yep. Keeping people alive and healthy just doesn’t turn millionaires into billionaires very effectively, and of course that’s the most important thing… 😒

[@THEMithrandir09]

@qwertpoo1 Dude, I agree with his conclusion and my own statement. These problems are real and the children are suffering. And the reason that's happening, is that it's profitable.

[@seyioyetade]

@@misspat7555 Mathew Perry is died ☹️

[@ItsReallyGeo]

​@@seyioyetadeshutup, bot

[@RvEijndhoven]

I'm Dutch and Tony's Chocolonely is also just really good chocolate (it has more actual cocoa than anything Nestlé or Mars produce) and it's not that much more expensive. (In fact, it's only more expensive because the big chocolate producers mentioned in the segment dropped their prices to try and force Tony's out of the market. But they're failing, because it's really good chocolate.)

[@frankiefavero1666]

I'm in NZ, saw this segment and I've ordered about $100 (US) of the stuff... It better be good!!! But if it's not, at least I know I'm contributing, in a tiny way, to a better outcome for these awesome farmers 😊

[@joshua.harazin]

​@@frankiefavero1666The only downside to Tony's is that it basically ruins cheap chocolate for you. You'll impulse-buy a Hershey Bar then realize it has the taste and texture of a scented candle.

[@frankiefavero1666]

@@joshua.harazin lol for sure! But in all fairness, I already think Hershey's tastes like a scented candle haha. I live in New Zealand and the ONLY chocolate I eat is Whittaker's a high quality local brand that also believes in fairness and sustainability, plus it's awesome chocolate and, just like Tony's even their milk chocolate is 33% cocoa :)

[@esmay3612]

As an other Dutch person I can confirm it's really good and comes in many flavours and also doesn't use plastic packaging. (It comes in paper and aluminium foil)

[@AngryKrumpet]

@@joshua.harazin, I would not even call Hershey's chocolate. I used to live in America and hated anything chocolate because of the taste. I moved to Europe and realized what good chocolate actually tastes like.

[@FragranceTestTube]

Aaah so glad to see Tony's Chocolonely mentioned in the end and approved of. My mother worked in sales for Nestle and Cote d' Or all her life and I'm Belgian, so I've been exposed to chocolate for 40 years, but I can honestly say Tony's have the yummiest chocolates of all time, on top of having paper packaging and not extorting farmers or children. They should just take over the entire chocolate market already.

[@sachadee.6104]

this must be the best recommendation for a chocolate brand. From a Belg who was closely seeped in big chocolate brands.

[@johnchessant3012]

I know it's not the most pressing issue in this story, but I continue to be disgusted by how easily these corporations can lobby their way out of effective regulations, due to their campaign contributions. We need publicly funded elections.

[@bwv668]

I think that’s actually pretty central to the story!

[@abrahamsneo7783]

In the west, corruption is called lobbying.

[@Poldovico]

Save for historical context, that pretty much is the story. Fix that, and the rest of it fixes itself.

[@dannydaw59]

Get rid of super pacs.

[@Keylevitation]

Lobbying is just straight up legal bribery

[@CardboardMarzipan]

A few years ago, I read a book on the cocoa industry…the justification used by these huge companies (although they don’t say this openly) is that chocolate wouldn’t be as affordable for the consumer if the farmers were paid more. I would like to think that most of us would be fine either paying more for chocolate, or buying less of it if it meant that farmers were paid fairly and children weren’t forced into labor.

[@seacprogrammer8455]

considering the gigantic WALL of chocolate in EVERY gas station and grocery store yeah we could easily do with less...

[@KitC916]

Or maybe, just maybe, they could have slightly reduced profits and not make their consumables more expensive because any consumable (coffee, food, drugs) being expensive or more expensive per serving pretty directly makes it not an option for most and we shouldn't be asking regular people to make sacrifice after sacrifice. Ugh, I hate regressive, reductionistic either/or thinking. Ask for more, folks. Really. Aim at the top, ever, instead of the bottom.

[@KitC916]

It's called "make it up on volume" too. No need to raise prices.

[@oftinuvielskin9020]

Yes, we could do with less chocolate - but the CEO's and shareholders of these companies could definitely also do with a few hundred million less a year. Despite the price of things like chocolate or coffee being said to be falsely deflated due to companies paying workers unlivable wages, the price is also simultaneously falsely inflated because the companies want to make the greatest profit they can.

[@watcherit1311]

​@@KitC916What an intricate way of saying that you prefer to move the responsibility from yourself to the mythical "company executives". Surely allows to eat that sweet chocolate without personal guilt...

[@alan3djoseph]

The Dutch journalist featured on this episode is called Teun van de Keuken. He did multiple episodes about this subject back in the day. The program was called “Keuringsdienst van waarden”. Don’t know if it’s available with English subtitles. I hope so. Greatly recommended. Each episode starts with a very simple question on the phone about a product to a company. The answer somehow always ends up to be that the world is completely fucked and we are being misled.

[@UlshaRS]

There have been so many expose/documentary shows over the years but the companies they expose are still here and the shows are gone because threats to pull ads. See : John Stewart's show with Apple just a couple weeks ago

[@lemur22715]

Thanks!

[@esmay3612]

It's a great series with lots of disturbing food stories.

[@martinreinders6870]

The name of the program is a pun on the former Dutch FDA, which was Keuringsdienst van Waren, now NVWA.

[@EvelynBaron]

@@esmay3612 Bring it on we need to know!

[@jacksquatjb]

The herculean feat of John Oliver talking about chocolate and slave labor for 20 mins without make a single Willy Wonka joke.

[@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou]

Warner Bros almost certainly had a hand in cutting the ones that they most probably wrote.

[@AshleyGrenstone]

I mean Wonka is kinda a spokesperson for emperialism on many levels

[@ryltair]

Great to see Tony's Chocolonely mentioned. Not only are they trying to make a difference, it's is also really damn good chocolate.

[@gristen]

i wish they sold tony's near me, its all i would buy

[@bwenluck9812]

​@@gristen Talk to the manager--he/she may be able to order it in for you (and others)....

[@turkizno]

They sell it in Hungary too but it is priced higher than luxury chocolate (4x higher than normal chocolate) , so sadly unaffordable to the public

[@helenanilsson5666]

@@turkizno Chocolate must be priced differently in Hungary then. In Sweden Tonys is approximately a little less than 4x the price of regular chocolate, putting them a little above the fancy-ish chocolates. *I still could afford to buy them on my salary as a cleaning lady,* no problem at all despite having one of the lowest wages in the country. I probably wouldn't buy them if I was unemployed, but in that case I'd try to stay off chocolate anyway since it's a luxury expense. So, at least here they are easily affordable to the public. Maybe not if you buy several each week but that would be extremely unhealthy anyway. It's an absolutely okay price to pay for chocolate. Edit, actually, now that I think about it, Marabou should probably be the norm for chocolate prices in Sweden, since that's the big brand everyone here thinks of when you say chocolate. Tony's milk chocolate bar 180g is 41 SEK - 233:06 SEK/kg. Marabou milk chocolate 200g is 24:50 SEK - 122:50 SEK/kg. That means the Tony's chocolate is less than twice as expensive as normal chocolate, a far cry from 4x. Even if you look at the stores own brand of the cheapest and lowest quality chocolate Tonys is still less than 3x more expensive. Now I'm *really* curious what kind of chocolate prices you've got in Hungary.

[@HH-gv8mx]

Too bad they are so high in sugar. I buy Blue Stripe. Filled with nutrients and good for you!

[@ajs8721]

Personally, I would love an episode on Coffee and Palm Oil. People need to understand how insidious palm oil is

[@tianarhastings8372]

I definitely agree palm oil absolutely needs a video

[@educerenews]

If you have a information about that, please, share with me... I have a channel in spanish to teach chemistry, but no in this profile..

[@MossyMozart]

@ajs8721 - I bought a jar of palm oil to try before I knew about all the down sides, but then found out before I opened the jar. Now, it just sits on a shelf, mocking me.

[@kamatariedgar3603]

Palm oil would make me cry, i don´t want to see Orangutans suffering.

[@markg.1159]

Palm oil plantations are really efficient in terms of oil per acre. If farmers were growing some other crop on former rainforest land, it would in some sense be worse. So I'd say the problem is a lack of environmental regulation in places like Indonesia, and rural poverty that incentivizes burning rainforests for farming. Not market demand for palm oil.

[@shroomyk]

I appreciate John and his writers' talents in making me depressed about literally everything, even the substance which keeps me from just dying of despair -- chocolate.

[@Yell5651]

Same here, Shroomyk

[@howamilooking5952]

The humility of it feels right.

[@AngelusaNobilis]

Eat another chunk of choccy and feel less depressed.

[@bestieswithtesties]

Well the world is depressing what do you expect. Literally everything you buy from clothes to electronics to hygiene products all come at the cost of great human suffering. Our society is a facade the world is not a nice place. We are intentionally surrounded by all this "stuff" to keep us apathetic and content. It's called the happiness bubble. So the government can do (almost) whatever it wants and no one cares cause rioting ain't worth it let's eat pizza and watch netflix instead. We'll only riot if the internet goes down

[@KitC916]

Let's get the lead out of chocolate as well.

[@nicmartin7581]

I always bought Tony’s because they sold it at the bodega where I worked and it was the best on the (pretty significant) chocolate display. Props to them for making an amazing product while also being amazing people.

[@CaravanseraiSouthValley]

I covered this subject in world history class my entire teaching career, 15 years. Two of my four principals tried to write me up for engaging in “liberal propaganda.” The USA sure loves its illusions and delusions.

[@Stolens87]

Ah, country of freedom strikes again :D

[@impishlyit9780]

Ah, classic school systems. I appreciate that you're aware of how widespread that kind of story is lol.

[@BoinkrNanis]

I love when anyone in America that owns a cellphone, claims to be oppressed...

[@Reitz86]

Ours years of establishing banana republic’s have ruined countries and lives

[@doomedwit1010]

To be fair, valuing human life, especially the lives of people in other countries or people in poverty, IS liberal propaganda.

[@DSS712]

I feel like this is the most important show on television, because it basically exposes how our entire way of life in a "developed" country has this absolutely horrid underbelly rife with human rights abuses - which is content that most normal people would turn off because its just so depressing. But this show presents the content in a way that makes the audience want to stick around, be curious, and stay engaged in hearing about these harsh realities. This type of show can make more of a difference than harsh, raw documentaries. Keep up the good work!

[@Kobe29261]

And kudos to you for the courage to look in the face of our collective horror. In all fairness, those governments are a shit-show also; I grew up in Ghana. It doesn't take much to bribe those people and have them look the other way. Not excusing the big multi-nationals of course.

[@Jozua86]

I'm Dutch. Tony's is becoming a pretty big brand here. The chocolate tastes great and it's still very well affordable. There is no excuse for other companies to pay this little.

[@Twowings2fly]

We have it in Scotland, and it's the best chocolate I've ever tasted.

[@Vivek-zw3ex]

Tony's is big in the UK too, and I've even seen it in American grocery stores. It's also amazing chocolate, and tastes even better knowing that you are not eating the fruits of exploitation.

[@rupertschnitzler]

It's available in Germany now too and I couldn't be happier.

[@charliepoet13]

It's come over to the UK so i got to try it and I'm now addicted to the stuff. It's awesome chocolate and it's good to be helping out even a little.

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

I've never seen it in Australia but I'd love to try it!

[@benzo___]

Tony's Chocolonely is now a pretty common and popular brand in German supermarkets, great to hear that the origin of the brand is supporting cocoa farmers!

[@VGatorS]

Strange but true fact - I learned about this from my evangelical Christian church while in grad school. Our pastor encouraged us to only buy fair trade chocolate and to write letters to big corporations that were profiting off exploitation of cocoa farmers. He believed as Christians it was our responsibility to end slavery and unethical practices. That was more than 10yrs ago. Wish churches today were like that.

[@Ammi1988]

Me as a kindergarten teacher

[@tirza6439]

Wow an actual instance where Christians are doing the good they always loudly proclaim to be doing. Good pastor!

[@cannablissdreams]

I don't believe that for one second.. xtians love slaves.. the bible sanctions slavery and provides clear instructions on where to buy your slaves and how to treat them.. but.. the kicker is how that book suggests those humans owned by others should behave.. "slaves.. obey your masters.. even the cruel ones" yeah.. I'm calling 🐂💩 on your little evangelical kumbuya story..

[@taravamos2954]

Check out your local Unitarians or Quakers or maybe Presbyterians- there really are some religious organizations that focus on walking the walk re: “love thy fellow man”

[@alannamorris977]

May the Christian God RICHLY bless you and that whole congregation! Namaste.

[@omideixis]

oh man i was WAITING for a Tony's Chocolonely mention! it isn't the easiest to eat either because it's divided into unequal triangle and rhombus pieces to symbolize the inequality in the chocolate industry. it's really cool that they're trying to hard so make ethical chocolate in a world where nestle exists.

[@billparco8072]

Yeah annoying pieces, but its really good

[@csp.9203]

Best tasting piece is the breaking chain circle.

[@Shikogo]

And yet unfortunately they got kicked off of the slavery free chocolate list due to a cooperation with Barry Callebaut.

[@janetbeatrice9505]

​@@ShikogoI'm pretty sure they explained the reason for that. Sorry, it was a while ago, so I don't remember the details.

[@nikkiannabelle1]

Never realized there was any symbolism to the shapes!

[@thecyborgian]

The issue in Ghana is astonishingly heartbreaking in the sense that politicians use price increment as campaign baits to lure farmers to maintain them in power. I grew up helping my dad on his farm (a land he did not own as is the case for majority of cocoa farmers in the southern part of Ghana. Normally, the landlord will lease the parcel to you on condition that you split the profits with him). After over 15 years of working on this piece of land he died a poor man, and because he was unable to pay debtors, the farm has been used as collateral. In fact the actual farmers do not have a say in bargaining for prices. They have a union but it is sadly infiltrated by same politicians such that it is made another arm of the ruling class to oppress the poor. If you are known for speaking against the government, you are excluded from incentives and stimulus packages sent to your district. The situation is worse than this.

[@gwils7879]

As I was watching the video, I immediately realized there was probably some landleech taking a portion, if not most, of the income these farmers earn.

[@sue-o8245]

@thecyborgian Remarkably (tho' predictably) mirrors share cropping, the American south's slavery 2.0 of more than a hundred years, the landless wed to the same land and living in the same tumble-down "quarters" (row of shacks) occupied by their ancestors, visible along any highway, right up into the 70s. So Britain isn't skimming the profits any more in Ghana but can you say that colonialism has been thrown off? These guys should be "truck" farming a variety of foods for their own family and for regional markets, not cashcropping a thing they can't eat on bwana's land for a world market that is incentivized to keep them poor. Same with all colonial legacy cash crops and land ownership patterns. Sigh o well.

[@MegaLokopo]

And this is one of many reasons why unions are stupid and should be banned.

[@21centdregs]

@@MegaLokopo and that is by far the most ignorant thing ive seen on youtube comments all year. congratulations scab scum!

[@grampaseri]

@@sue-o8245 Excellent comment, although sharecropping largely died off around the 40s, not due to any moral outrage, but because of automation.

[@mckinleyt98]

I’m glad to hear about Tony’s, i looked into it after seeing them in my local grocery store but it can be so hard to tell what’s greenwashing (or whatever you would call the fair-trade equivalent) and what’s actually impactful

[@randomviewer3494]

One thing Tony Chocolonely also does is offer their knowledge and farmer network to other companies who want to pay fair prices for cocoa to also make slave free chocolate. Sadly almost no company actually does that, taking profit over ethics.

[@FreeStylinFritz]

Love me some Tony Chocoloney

[@benwu7980]

Had not heard of them, but it sounds like an uphill task for a small company. I'm not really much into choc but coffee has a lot of the same problems, and really disappointed regarding those labels like Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance that cover both, and seem less meaningful when delve a bit deeper into them. There are similar labels or certifications in play for so much products like fish etc that are completely meaningless but try to make consumer feel better.

[@cjboyo]

Their chocolate bars also fuck so while they’re pricey, they’re definitely worth it!

[@RayasNegroOvejas]

yes, there are more small companies (roasteries) in coffee with a similar ambition @@benwu7980

[@chielversteeg8794]

This is amazing. Kudos to the Last week tonight's team. As an industry insider (Tony's) I can say the research is ON POINT. They nailed it. The whole thing is accurate AF and that's very impressive.

[@MossyMozart]

@chielversteeg8794 - Glad to see your comment. However, there are many comments here that say how the founder of your company has quit because of the backsliding by the company that bought you out and the reduction in standards. I was happy to see the video's positive statements for Tony's, but then very unhappy to read that is no longer as upstanding as it was initially. ---------- Can you comment on the true state of your company?

[@SSGoatanks]

Mr Beast also sells chocolate Feastables - wonder if he's aware of child labor exploitation and low paying work in this industry 🍫

[@Eraesr]

@@MossyMozart It's more nuanced than this. Teun van de Keuken, who initially started the brand kind of lost faith in the cause. The cited reasons are twofold: first, in all of the years Tony's has been active, circumstances for cocoa farmers in general basically only got worse and didn't improve. He felt the impact Tony's Chocolonely had was negligible. Secondly, he also felt that at some point the brand put more effort into its own marketing than the goal of producing honest, slave-free chocolate. I personally think, and this admittedly is somewhat speculative, that at some point Tony's hit its maximum potential as a world-changing brand. Any additional effort beyond that point wouldn't make much of a difference. Though the brand still had success through its image of being a responsible chocolate producer, they pushed their promotion into directions other than just that. Over here in the Netherlands they have mother's day themed bars, Christmas themed bars, all sorts of custom flavor options, you can design your own packaging, etcetera. All stuff that has nothing to do with being a responsible slave-free chocolate producer, does little to send out that message and, in fact, just dilutes the whole message they should be sending out. I think that the above is the reason why Teun van de Keuken left Tony's Chocolonely. Maybe he's just disillusioned. Whatever the case, I'm pretty sure Tony's Chocolonely is still actively working to bring responsible chocolate to various markets. But it's grown well beyond that goal and so effort is directed into directions other than that initial goal which, arguably, means they're not realizing their full potential towards achieving 100% slave-free chocolate.

[@ts29677]

I thought the US and some other countries aren’t supposed /can’t buy Cacao from Ivory Coast because of the human rights violations?

[@Eraesr]

@@ts29677 you're probably thinking of the Dodd-Frank act, which contains a section about conflict minerals such as gold and tungsten originating from Congo and the countries surrounding it. An unfortunate side-effect of that is that companies who sourced minerals from those countries opted to stop business there entirely instead of setting up controlled supply chains, resulting in even worse income circumstances for the people working in the mines in those countries.

[@Chai22]

There's a downside to Tony's (but it's a good one): The bars are scored to break into pieces of varying shapes/sizes. It's done to demonstrate the inequality in the chocolate industry and is a good way to talk to kids about that when they whine about who gets the larger piece. Very proud of Tony's; great to see them getting some love outside of the Netherlands!

[@pldcanfly]

They recently also started selling in austria, and I really liked it. Knowing that we as consumers can do something to help by buying a certain way is good. It's kinda sad tho that we need to research that much about all the "sustainable - fairtrade - etc" - seals that are floating around, instead of being able to trust them.

[@andreluismarin8095]

I love Tony’s, but they should make more vegan varieties. Im in Aruba, always excited to see the Dutch on the forefront of awesomeness initiatives.

[@scoobertmcruppert2915]

@@pldcanfly You can’t do anything about the problem by buying your way out of it.

[@shodan2001]

​@@scoobertmcruppert2915 But you absolutely can. Consumers have great power, and they should use that power.

[@smrk2452]

Where can I find it in NYC?

[@slothfulcobra]

Tony's Chocolonely is absolutely great, even if you don't care about the non-exploitative labor practices, it's just straight-out the best chocolate bar out on the market.

[@SuAva]

I love the shout-out to Tony's Chocolonely! I live in the Netherlands so I get to enjoy that brand often. They have all kinds of different flavors and it's legitimately one of the best chocolates out there. The blocks all have annoying forms to break off, but the wrapper explains how that's on purpose because the profits of chocolate are also not distributed fairly. Such a great brand and it really deserves the international shout-out! The fairest and tastiest chocolate out there!

[@Caphalem]

I go to the Netherlands once a year to visit family. I thought from first glance that it's some Hershey knockoff but when I got one, I realized that it's far too good to be a knockoff

[@carmenramirez1832]

Tony’s-PLEASE EXPORT to US OR COACH OTHERS TO FOLLOW YOUR SUCCESS FORMULA.

[@dawnbaines8539]

what is your favorite kind of Tony's?

[@anaruvalcaba577]

They already sell in the US. I saw a multipack of 6 flavors in California at Target .

[@viomouse]

They sell them in Germany, too, but I find them waaay to sweet, so I just buy the other fair trade chocolates there are.

[@Molagmal]

As a Dutch man I can tell you how enormously popular Tony's is in The Netherlands though, it's definitely the number one brand now. You can even get it in your Ben & Jerry's

[@twistedspike69]

Ugh I tried the Ben and Jerry’s tony chocolate bar and spat it out. I love Tony’s but not that one

[@singingsunflower9000]

​@@twistedspike69it comes the other way around too, as a ben jerry icecream, its great

[@beckychristiansen8954]

I love Tony’s chocolate! I’ll definitely buy more now.

[@NMandarina]

Not just in Netherlands, its huge in Belgium and Germany too

[@Yoarashi]

"Months after teaming up with Tony's Chocolonely to raise awareness for ending modern slavery and child labor in the chocolate industry, Ben and Jerry's suppliers were found to be employing illegal migrant children in early 2023 by The New York Times. Ben & Jerry's head of values-led sourcing, Cheryl Pinto, said that "if migrant children needed to work full time, it was preferable for them to have jobs at a well-monitored workplace"." - Wikipedia article for Ben & Jerry's

[@raymondsabee]

I'm from the Netherlands and to be honest, I never knew that Tony is a Dutch brand. The taste is amazing. I hope these guys will thrive and conquer the world.

[@marjabeverwijk5630]

I was surprised too. But why, if Tony Chocolonely is a Dutch brand, are there no Tony Chocolonely sprinkles??

[@MimouFirst]

@@marjabeverwijk5630 Hah, great question. I would love the dark milk chocolate in sprinkles.

[@klizzt]

I used to make it a point on vacation in the Netherlands to stock up on Tony's (only recently appeared on German store shelves)

[@hylke18]

For as far as I know, Tony is a reference to Teun (van der Keuken). Which is is the person interviewing the Nestle dude on the phone.

[@cy-one]

Yeah, I'll be switching from Milka and the REWE store brand to Tony's on my next grocery tour.

[@dimithetree]

21:04 Tony’s is so ubiquitous here in the Netherlands that I really thought it was some large international company. Way to go, Tony’s!

[@rhysodunloe2463]

Fun fact: Ferrero is mostly known in Germany for their "kinder" products like the Surprise Egg. Kinder is the German word for children. It's made by children for children.

[@Vitrunis]

The chocolate of the children, by the children, for the children.

[@jv-lk7bc]

harsh but fair btw kinderchocolate is what the Germans call milk chocolate. No self respecting adult German would eat that stuff.

[@Swedishoak1]

Eww. Jesus christ...

[@breakbreakbreakbreakbreak]

unfortunately for me growing up in canada it was literally the tastiest thing i could think of that existed. @@jv-lk7bc

[@noor5x9]

Unfortunately it is not of the children, it is of the extremely rich @@Vitrunis

[@Jujubar101]

Tony’s chocolate may have a goofy logo but it’s seriously one of the most delicious and underrated chocolates out there. Far above the others on the market

[@boarder6246]

I’d try it and I’m not a huge chocolate fan

[@wonpilspiano]

Not the biggest fan of chocolate either and Hershey’s is pretty disgusting to me. If I ever buy anything with chocolate then I’ll try Tony’s.

[@gracematter]

I've never heard of it. I don't believe it's available in the US, unfortunately?

[@Misspip1993]

@@gracematterit is available! Typically in health food stores or co-ops!

[@mattia_carciola]

@@wonpilspiano I mean, Hershey's *is* pretty disgusting. I tried it once out of curiosity and if I didn't know about the butirric acid thing I would have thought it was gone rancid...

[@thierryk8720]

From the Ivory Coast & grand child of cocoa farmer, I can confirm that the farmers do not get their fair share of the benefits. Thank you!

[@stoodmuffinpersonal3144]

SCREW NESTLE. SCREW THESE COMPANIES. YOU SHOULD GET THE MONEY, DUDE. YOU DO THE WORK. Not a ceo, not a single executive. Maybe the chocolaters. Maybe. But like. YOU do the work. YOU are the one busting your ass. Hell. If I wasn't just some broke idiot in the first world, I'd pay you for the cocoa directly and figure out how to make my OWN damn chocolate. Like. F*ck these guys. Man. I need to grow a backbone cause these companies rule my life too and I let them! Just cause they can! Cause I'm one person and I like snacks. But like. F*ck these guys. YOOOOOU SHOULD SEE THE MONEY! YOOOOOOU

[@CryptocurrencyInsider]

You just produce the raw material. It’s normal you don’t get proceeds of the end product…

[@lwest6217]

​@@CryptocurrencyInsider I think you need to watch this episode again, friend. Maybe it is the norm for people to be so underpaid that they can only survive by making their children work, while the companies who benefit from their labour are making enormous profits. But if that is the case, then this norm MUST change. It is more important for cocoa farmers to have enough money to put food on the table and send their kids to school than for Nestle's shareholders to get a load of extra money. Lots of terrible things are normal. It is up to you, and me, and all of us to change our world for the better.

[@timd729]

Move out of there. Raising the price of Chocolate so Ugandan people can get paid more. Never heard something more ridiculous in my life. It's a competitive market and more countries are growing cocoa, if it's not cheap there, they will find out where it grows cheap. That's like me saying I want to pay more for Chinese goods because of the labor practices of China.

[@antonbrakhage490]

@@CryptocurrencyInsider It takes a lot of arrogance (and probably a heavy dose of white privilege) to condescend to someone about their own experiences and tell them they don't deserve to be fairly compensated. And anyone who's user name advertises fucking crypto has no business talking about anything economic. Reported.

[@filippomariabagnasco1094]

I believe that all of LWT’s seasons taken together are the best possible introductory course on the issues of modern capitalism.

[@chromesucks5299]

Some of it isnt even modern, its been like this for decades.

[@schalkerleiden]

tony's chocolonely is legit the best chocolate out there. happy to see that they actually follow through on their promises.

[@JohnAndJohner]

So that's why it's so damn expensive.

[@michaelcolin9887]

Tonys is very very good, but there's better out there like Dolfin or Rausch

[@HH-gv8mx]

Blue Stripe dark chocolate cacao bars are the best. They’re actually filled with nutrients and good for you. I think Tony’s chocolate is a lot of sugar. It’s just basically chocolate candy.

[@swiftlymurmurs]

@@HH-gv8mx Buddy you're saying it yourself. It's a "cocoa bar", not chocolate, and we are talking about chocolate. Like yeah, maybe we should eat less chocolate and more other stuff, but you can't jump into a conversation about people's favourite action movies and go "actually the best action movie is Little Women, it doesn't have any of the loud shooting or violence".

[@swiftlymurmurs]

For the record I think Little Women (2019) is a masterpiece and I have watched and enjoyed it many times, but sometimes you want to get comfy, put on Prey, and watch a nasty hot alien man decimate French colonists faces for 90 minutes

[@ridderbanaan]

Every single phone call from that Dutch TV program (Keuringsdienst van Waarde) basically ends like that, if they even find a company that wants to talk to them. It's very Dutch centric and mostly focuses on products that are available in our stores, but they expose a lot of child labor in several chains.

[@cactaceous]

Tony’s Chocolonely collaboration with Ben and Jerry’s is absolutely amazing. Bars and ice cream.

[@DutchLabrat]

All their prodcuts are good, and not more expensive than chocolate of similar quality.

[@Moncrom]

Chocolonely affiliated products are allmost exclusivly the only one I buy.

[@brandonayong5823]

John Oliver's life theme song "Bad boys bad boys What you gonna do? What you gonna do when they come for you?" 😂😂😂

[@debildevil]

We tried the B&J bars and they were not as good as the rest of the Tony's lineup. The Tony's ice cream is divine though

[@zacharythomas8617]

Where can I get this?!

[@mangos2888]

I was in college during the Harkin-Engel Protocol era and we even discussed in clasa how there was no incentive for food manufacturers to comply. That Lucy/football metaphor is so spot on - I wish it had come up in school. It did get my peers and I to limit our intake of mocha lattes for a bit 😂

[@drfreud65]

Sadly, Tom Harkin wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act too- yet another football yanked out from under him. In the case of the ADA, it happened after he retired, and his fellow Iowan, Chuck Grassley, played the role of Lucy.

[@autisticnation7140]

Glad he brought up Tony's chocolate. Telling people about Tony's and getting more people to buy it will actually make a difference in Ghana. Not much of course but its a real, tangible step everyone can take of buying their chocolate from a better company when available.

[@veggigoddess]

Been buying Tony's for years

[@elliotbrent]

Ghana

[@nfboogaard]

​@@veggigoddesssame 👌🏼

[@autisticnation7140]

@@elliotbrent thanks I'll fix my typo

[@cloud__99]

I’ve been seeing it on the shelves for a few years but didn’t know what it was about. I’ll definitely be buying this brand next time I need some chocolate!

[@catboymothman2495]

One thing I really like about Tony's Chocolonely as a brand is that even though they pay so much more for the beans, the retail price isn't that much higher than the brands labeled "Fairtrade Certified" for a chocolate bar that is completely larger

[@WARnTEA]

The worst part is that big brands would probably only need to increase their prices by like 25%, while Tony’s has no choice but to be about twice as expensive because they have a lot of inefficiencies as a smaller company with less factories.

[@CorePathway]

I like my chocolate like I like my women…

[@Xeonerable]

Probably because they are moral people and opt to not make insanely high wages for running the company to keep that price low. Corporate vampires be like "fine we'll pay more for the cost but you will pay more for the product to subsidize it because I'm not taking a pay cut!" This is why the ultra-wealthy need to stop being romanticized as being nearly demi-gods, because they aren't good people, they are only proficient at exploiting others and that is not a trait worth admiring.

[@MrDeadsr]

Yeah but i doubt Tonys CEO etc all have their own private jet and huge yacht.

[@fdagpigj]

@@CorePathway small, ethical and with personality?

[@MaxFerney]

I love john oliver's style of introducing hard or depressing stories in not a sad or gloomy way, but in a reality/person to person framing so we can be informed

[@ZentaBon]

Yup. Him and his team's format is amazingly legendary. It always ends on some "how to solve it" or "how it's being addressed but it needs a bit more and here is you need to do"

[@pseudo_ra]

And nothing changes except we the audience get an ego boost and feel better about ourselves compared to our ignorant peers…it’s a great business model.

[@121intheshade]

I agree completely with this caveat: if you binge watch these episodes, it's hard to imagine a future that's not a complete, unmitigated disaster of epic proportions.

[@Vivek-zw3ex]

Through most of this video, I was thinking that at the end of it, I need to mention Tony's in the comments section. But John and his team have done their research as usual. I am glad that they have highlighted Tony's. It's a wonderful business and they make the best tasting chocolate too!

[@leonardohernandezcabrera7541]

I am from Mexico and I studied food chemistry at the university, one of my professors who taught the subject "science and technology of sugar, cocoa and coffee" worked in the industry before and after the entry of NAFTA the first free trade agreements between USA, Mexico and Canada. He commented that it was a disaster for Mexican chocolate because Nestlé, Hershey's and other foreign companies came in to buy the mexican chocolate factories and brands that used to bought mexican cocoa beans then they began to buy African cocoa which was cheaper to bring to Mexico, the difference is that in Mexico the cocoa that was grown is of more expensive varieties but with better quality, they used to be family plantations and apart from cocoa they planted more species of plants to avoid monoculture while African cocoa was cheaper because companies like Nestlé owned the plantations that used slave, and child labor and they grow the cheaper cacao variety using monoculture so what happened was the farmers of Mexico had to abandon their cocoa plantations and emigrate to the United States.

[@senzen2692]

While mexican cocoa can indeed be great, the chocolates were always terrible, some companies have been selling "organic, traditional" chocolates while still not understanding the importance of actual taste. That's due in part because mexicans have a taste for spicy things way more than sweet foods. - I write this as a chocolate addict.

[@andreirachko]

…meaning that NAFTA helped fix this issue?

[@edbambino7505]

@@senzen2692you’re not addicted to chocolate, you are addicted to sugar and palm oil! 🤡

[@TomTom-yu1xp]

We're not supposed to admit that there are good reasons for Mexicans to cross the border into the US and the good reasons are very often the actions of predatory US corporations.

[@sue-o8245]

What happened to the market value of the MesoAmerican corn crop, and therefore the farm economy as a whole, was even more direct, rapid, and dramatic, since the US so heavily uses tax dollars to subsidize its corn growers.

[@vatatheoanonymous3705]

Tony's is probably my favorite chocolate brand, and it makes me so happy that they are one of the more "responsible" chocolate companies.

[@brokenrecord3523]

I bought a bar a while back and it was delicious. I then researched and found out more about Tony's. Now it's all I buy.* I can't guarantee it is 100% of what I eat, but you have to be realistic.

[@firiel2366]

I LOVE Tony's! I still remember the first time I saw them in a store--the wrapper was so bright and goofy I almost passed on it. I'm pretty sure it was the sea salt caramel bar. It's only a slight exaggeration to say it changed my life. 😅 But it was when I learned the story behind Tony's that I really fell in love. Now it's one of my favourite gifts to give--everyone in my family gets a birthday Tony's bar. ❤️ Hoping and praying more chocolate companies follow suit and stop exploiting their workers. 😔

[@colonialstraits1069]

Ditto. I did a lot of homework to become an educated consumer and Tony’s was at or near the top. 2 squares from a dark chocolate almond sea salt bar is a vital part of my daily regimen in my ongoing battle with ADHD and depression.

[@jenniferb.9404]

I’ve never heard of Tony’s chocolate and now need some!

[@Vegan34Love]

Tony's Chocolonely recently came out with new flavors meant to imitate Twix and Ferrero Rocher while demonstrating that making ethical and tasty chocolate is possible. 🥰 (Unofficial/non-paid ambassador of Tony's here 😄)

[@hannahg5479]

I wrote a paper in high school about how unethical the chocolate industry is, specifically regarding the use of child labor-- and that would have been in 2010. The information was public and easily obtained then. Its sad that nothing has changed in those 13 years-- that's a long time to do nothing.

[@KitC916]

But let's raise consumer prices instead of actual laws or making the companies have even slightly less profits, sounds legit /sarcasm

[@ronchorivera]

I guess you shoulda written a better paper lol!

[@andrewglover9769]

I LOVE SHOWS that don't just highlight a problem and make you feel helpless but offer a solution too...eat Tony's...its great chocolate and I like the nice chunky grooves the bar is made into.

[@jkarasta1]

I quit drinking recently and that Tony’s chocolate is all that keeps me going. Really didn’t even know it was doing such good, it’s just that absolute best chocolate bar I’ve ever had.

[@chrissy24-7]

Congratulations and I hope you keep up the fight, you are worth it! (Also, have you tried Lindt?) 😉

[@Demoliri]

Their "Salted caramel" or "Prezel and Toffee" are my go-to for a chocolate treat. I didn't know the company at all until they started selling them in Rewe here in Germany. And if they get a mention on John Oliver without any "but", you can be confident that they are doing it right.

[@colintimp1372]

I tried one a while back from Brazil. I think it was called 1819 (or something like that). It was a banana-chocolate. Best thing I've ever had. Haven't been able to find it anywhere.

[@jkarasta1]

@@colintimp1372apparently it’s called the Ever After bar and was limited edition thing. I didn’t even know they had limited edition bars…but now I do!! Thanks !!!!

[@sachadee.6104]

Dark, bitter cacao-rich chocolate helped me quit smoking. Just a small piece after supper to get the happy hormons without nicotine. Tony's is heaven.

[@DavidNelsonATX]

Let me guess, McKinsey helped justify these practices so that CEO’s and execs of the candy companies can not “underpaid” and forced to drive a Mercedes instead of a Bentley while the farmers can’t afford a candy bar.

[@chenzen1578]

I never heard od McKinsey before, that's why I apreciate John Oliver so much, he and his teams dig up stuff everyone should know.

[@MyahNoire]

Thank you so much John for bringing light on these two west African countries. As someone who grew up eating the cocoa fruit in Ivory Coast, the chocolate and coffee industries have been steadily stealing from my ancestral countries by low balling the bean prices from the farmers. They also imposed tough deadlines on the farmers pushing them to plan on government protected land and using the cheapest labor available (aka children)😢😢😢😢

[@rachelkelly8321]

I started watching this and remembered i had a bar of Tony's in my bag, and started eating. It's the best chocolate I've had probably ever, and it's not taking advantage of these cocoa growers. It's nice consuming something that isn't completely rotten

[@curlychapina]

I am so happy that you finally covered this issue. I found out about the slavery in the cacao chain 8 years ago and could not stop thinking about it. I live in the Netherlands, so I only buy chocolate from Tony's Chocolonely. I have given up my favorite chocolates (kit kat) because those bastard companies are just fucking evil. I know I am just one person, but I have made everyone around me aware of this and encouraged them to only buy Tony's.

[@fionnuisce4384]

Nestlé are quite evil. I agree. When I was in university we banned their products from the students union shop and I think they are still banned 25 years later. At the time it was for aggressive marketing of breast milk substitute formula products. It was interesting to see their CEO talking about water as a commodity and not giving access to those who cannot pay for it. They're buying up water companies at a dramatic rate

[@captainevenslower4400]

Tony's is awesome! I really hope that they stick to their claims and don't turn on us once they are popular enough.

[@phunkykelpie]

We still have few places that carry Tony’s but I buy them whenever I see them🤎

[@Dr_Y_Woo]

Plot twist: you are Tony.

[@Glaaki13]

I dont buy Nestle at they are really bad

[@juliameyer10313]

I thought Tony's Chocolony was just some new chocolate brand that popped up in the supermarkets near me. Good to know that it's doing the bare minimum of humanity, thank you for pointing that out and giving me a good reason to buy some chocolate tomorrow

[@Vegan34Love]

While you eat the chocolate, read the informative wrapper!

[@rvdpadt]

That's why their chocolate is in uneven pieces, to show the inequality :)

[@steemlenn8797]

I just wish my local store had more than "strange flavor" and "super strange flavor".

[@Dutchienl2006]

It is on the wrapping of the bar...

[@juliameyer10313]

@@Dutchienl2006 oh please forgive me for not inspecting a product I didn't plan to buy. If it helps my anxiety already doesn't let me stand in the Pizza aisle for more than a minute, you can imagine how it is in the Candy aisle

[@ChronoTigger]

As a Dutch person I'm proud of Tony Chocolonely. It tastes really good too, with tons of different flavors. Each supermarket is filled with these bars.

[@FeuerblutRM]

I rather support 'Fairafric' which runs the only chocolate factory of Ghana which keeps the whole processing line & revenue in the country. It's also organic & fairtrade. Sadly I couldn't visit the factory myself despite staying in Koforidua (neighbor city of _Suhum_ where the factory is)

[@cjboyo]

I only can find one variety in the USA, but its fantastic!

[@cyberT3000]

That's great! wish we had it in South Africa

[@Parialated]

Well tony Chocolonely is sold and no longer owner by Teun van de keuken...and has become a bit of a sham...

[@hellowerd]

@@cjboyoit’s at Whole Foods. Lots of flavors!

[@christopherfairbairn9563]

Only just seeing this now. Tony's chocolate has been about in the UK (I live in London) for a few years. It's a few quid more expensive than the normal shite but it is honestly the best chocolate money can buy. Never buying another brand after watching this. Delicious and ethical.

[@MariaVosa]

We've been buying Tony's Chocolate for a while now, and I was worried this video would reveal they were horrid scammers - relieved this wasn't the case. It's also really *good* chocolate, which is not something I can say about a lot of others.

[@Widdekuu91]

Sure, but the original founder did stop working with them because he felt they were not putting enough effort into it. According to him, the priority was no longer the fairness and more the sales.

[@DaBoweh]

@@Widdekuu91 To be fair like, there's only so much you can do to reach 'fairness,' and at that point it becomes about selling more product, which in turn means hiring more people to make product, which means more people you can be fair to. The humanitarian initiative tapering off isn't really the fault of the company. It just sounds like this guy was only interested in the activist cause and didn't care about the day to day reality of running a business, that's all.

[@rdc2021]

I want to begin buying Tony's Chocolate and want to invite others to do as well. Perhaps a boycott of Hershey and other big chocolate companies might shake the markets up and change it

[@SuperOtter]

There was quite an interesting lawsuit surrounding Tony's. Another chocolate company sued then for lying about the fact that their chocolate was slave free. While it indeed seemed at the time that Tony's lied they still won the lawsuit based on the fact they had a national recognised seal which requires the chocolate to be slave free. So basically they lied about it being slave free, got the seal, then got sued because they lied and then they won because of the seal they obtained through lying. But iirc right now they're actually buying slave free cocoa. So all that ends well is well ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[@anderivative]

some things, like chocolate SHOULD NOT be super cheap. The human toil to get it to the consumer is massive. Pay the ppl!

[@MultiSciGeek]

Thanks for bringing awareness to this. I'd also kindly suggest the following topics: - Tuna fishing - is it sustainable? - Brick production in South Asia - widespread slavery - Cobalt mining in CAR - ask Elon Musk's dad Basically I'd love those more sustainability & human exploitation issue addressed. This episode was so good!

[@wildernessisland2573]

I'd suggest going even more in-depth on the question of fishing. Beyond asking if it's sustainable. Is it ethical? Fish are sentient beings, after all.

[@ghdkjkj]

​@@wildernessisland2573humans are enslaved around the planet and you're worried about the ethics of fishing

[@xpirate16]

We might as well rename the show “There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism with John Oliver” haha

[@winstonsmith8236]

@@wildernessisland2573different subject entirely. People eat the flesh of other animals. Most of those animals have feelings. The morality of the issue has nothing to do with unethical production and manufacturing practices

[@wildernessisland2573]

@@winstonsmith8236 that's why I brought it up as another subject for this show to bring to light at a later date. Thanks

[@CleanKenya]

I am so glad to see this being talked about. The injustice to the African continent is unfathomable. I remember my grandpa grew coffee and for the longest time we just knew nescafe, only as an adult did I taste true coffee. Very late life did Grandpa taste the coffee he grew.

[@hilarygladstone6037]

I’m American and one of my students gave me a bar of Tony’s for the holidays. I’m still working on eating it. I love it! I’m sold! I’m glad they are going to become mainstream!

[@kpsa7108]

Also, I've worked in the grocery retail and wholesale industry for nearly 30 years. I have seen food get thrown at disgusting levels. Cases and cases of everything from strawberries to yes bags of chocolate candies. The prices do not need to be as high as they are and they can definitely definitely pay more to those farmers.

[@smrk2452]

I decided long ago that I could never work on the food industry because of this very issue.

[@InservioLetum]

Oh nobody is claiming they CANNOT. We all know avarice is the problem. Always has been too. People not held to account will be as shitty as you let them. That's just how humans are.

[@Zift_Ylrhavic_Resfear]

The market is a competition, and competition necessitates waste. If there are 2 merchants and 10 customers, and each merchant produces enough for 5 people, then there is no competition, because the merchant selling at a higher price will just sell to the 5 people that were too late to buy from the other merchant. Only when the total production is higher than the number of customers will there be a competition between the two merchants, but then whatever is produced in excess can only be thrown away.

[@NeonMoon87]

I'm so glad claifornia made it mandatory for grocery stores to give all that to food banks instead of the trash.

[@InservioLetum]

@@Zift_Ylrhavic_Resfear Well, it worked in the economics book, so human factors like loyalty, decision lag, perceived preference from positive or negative marketing influence and congnitive biases.... must be my imagination?

[@tinroof8700]

Kudos to John and his team for their well-researched, heartbreaking work here.

[@pauls6897]

And of course, Oliver is crying and hand-wringing all the way to the bank about something else that's tragic in the world.

[@tinroof8700]

@@pauls6897 - and what's so wrong with that...plenty of people make loads of money in less than desirable ways - here's a guy who's at least shedding light on important stuff...what am I missing here?

[@dmac187]

Wow, what a spot on analysis. It's almost like, it's his job or something?@@pauls6897

[@pauls6897]

What is wrong is Oliver isn't offering solutions to the problem--Jon Stewart at least does that. @@tinroof8700

[@davidfeltz8697]

​@@pauls6897you clearly missed the point. He is using his platform to elucidate a problem that he is clearly passionate about. Dont be such a stick in the mud.

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

I only just now realized how awesome this show is. I have been watching every episode for years and never once thought about the fact I have never paid for a episode and this is easily one of the best shows on TV or at least I assume, I havent watched actual TV in about 8 years. So Thank you to whoever is allowing this to be free on youtube.

[@HelenLemink]

Yes, same for me , thanks a lot HBO, I don't have the budget for you, but I wil remember it !

[@pauls6897]

I used to watch this show, and typically agree with John Oliver. But my cynicism informs me on him--much like the show "Frontline," he leaves some steaming pile of dog shit at my door, and walks away. And all the while profiting from these issues without a solution that is actually workable.

[@prabuddhaghosh7022]

@@pauls6897 Media's job is to raise awareness. They are not qualified to provide solutions. There are industry experts, NGOs, activists, bureacrats and politicians who have the expertise to solve issues. And no one can be expert on everything. Media is a generalist profession. Their job is to inform us there is an issue, then we the voters demand a solution from the politicians, they in turn assign it to the appropriate bureacrats with a deeper knowledge of the field who work with experts and NGOs/thinktanks to come up with solutions and give to the politicians who then pass it into law and once the law is passed the same bureacrats are responsible for making sure the law is followed. Its not Oliver's job to provide a workable solution as that is beyond his and his writers' capability.

[@avi486]

He showcased Tony's Chocoloney as a positive solution. I actually think your statement is more negative than his reporting. I think a lot of people have a cynical attitude about political coverage, but there are positive solutions that get covered. It has more to do with our own negativity/depression toward current events

[@sorio99]

Imagine how much of a relief this topic must have been for the joke writers on the staff. Every few weeks, they have to come up with witty zingers to somehow tie in to fucking State Medical Boards or, worse, the Death Penalty again, and then this time John came in and was like “We’re gonna deep dive into Chocolate” and they’re like “Oh thank God, I’ve been sitting on a joke about Mounds for months”.

[@cynmiedo77]

I missed you John, I’m so glad you and all of your staff are back. I’m so tired of hearing these companies never take any responsibility for the ways in which their pockets are lined.

[@quarionilphukiir3583]

I really like the inclusion of the Dutch program "Keuringsdienst van waarde" they research a lot of different things that are weird in the food industry. This definitely isn't their only interview that went like this.

[@gmy33]

Their interview techniqie became a gimmick .. but its great

[@kavertia6261]

How have I never heard of this? Gotta look it up now

[@JasperJanssen]

It’s very much in the same genre as John Oliver - and leads neatly into Tony Chocolonely.

[@MrMasque]

It's a great example of how investigative journalism can make good television.

[@Boobalopbop]

To be fair… The boy clearly isn’t 25, but he is probably about 16 which is a normal age in the US to get a job.

[@HelenLemink]

I lived in Africa for a long time. This video is just fu*#'king brillant !!! Thanks for giving a voice to this. And huge respect to Tony's Chocolate that says "we can't garantee...", because it's almost the perfect definition of Africa : anyone that would "garantee" anything about it would be a liar.

[@bhonest-gb5zg]

Same from Ethiopia the corruption starts at the head I'm not sure the new PM can rid this country of it and if he's trying. China owns all our infrastructure and built it with their own prison force

[@ChadGardenSinLA]

Thank you so much for documenting and continuing to shed light on this very real, ON-GOING, problem of slavery. It hurts everyone, not just the oppressed.

[@ronaldeliascorderocalles]

Before watching this video, I'm scared about how John will ruin chocolate for me, but I'm TOTALLY HERE FOR IT.

[@DebNKY]

He can't, there's NO way!

[@erin1569]

2 words: modern slavery

[@numb20072007]

not so modern, truthful bot@@erin1569

[@brandonayong5823]

Let's be honest everyone will still eat chocolate after this including john Oliver 😂 it reminds me of when he exposed the disgusting fifa football federation and ended it with "Oh don't get it confused. I'm still so excited about the world cup" 😂😂😂

[@craigslist6988]

@@erin1569 it's pretty old school style slavery. I would say the US companies paying people so little that most live paycheck to paycheck is modern slavery... what they're doing in Africa is just old school traditional slavery.

[@MikeGtrMan]

The Dutch journalist, before starting the Tony-brand, actually started a lawsuit against himself, because in his words: he helped to fund child labour by eating chocolote from the big companies. I believe he was found guilty but didn't have to go to jail. It was an interesting story years ago here in the Netherlands!

[@adamluther5836]

While such a lawsuit against oneself, and being found guilty might sound rather silly, I wonder if the intended goal wasn't to help set a legal precedent for future lawsuits against those seen as larger contributors to the child labor practices?

[@jbird4478]

No, the court dismissed the case for him not being the party concerned. You cannot start a lawsuit about something you do not have a stake in yourself. In other words, it would have to be a victim of the industry who starts a lawsuit.

[@qwertpoo1]

What a silly place.

[@TheKaurK]

Well it certainly is a good point for all of us to look at ourselves and introspect then.

[@jbird4478]

@@qwertpoo1 Magic mushrooms were still legal here back then. Just saying.

[@Tralfazz74]

I'm so glad you're shouting out Tony's Chocoloney. I don't know why I looked it up, but a few years ago, I was looking up Slave-free chocolate, and found them. I literally laughed aloud when I saw "Slave-free" on the bar, saying "this CAN'T be a problem". Tony's is my favorite chocolate bar now

[@THEchiQ]

I’m here after watching the last episode of LWT (not London Weekend Television). We do love you over here in NZ, John. We also love that you picked up the BotC campaign. Don’t ever change. Arohanui o Aotearoa ❤

[@katchoua]

I went to school with money from cocoa and coffee farming by my parents in Cameroon, West/Central Africa. Trust me, it was one of my bittersweet childhood experiences - with all kinds of insects biting you in the farm as a child. When you’re back from school, you go meet your parents in the farm and holidays are for full time farming as a child. In my childhood growing up and farming cocoa and coffee, I didn’t even know what chocolate was nor tasted coffee all those years.😢 That’s life and it is what it is.

[@belynlynsh6921]

Just in case anyone sees this comment- Maui has an incredible non-profit chocolate farm. The farm was damaged but not destroyed in the fires. Their chocolate has a high cocoa percentage and is super high quality and delicious. Proceeds from the sales go to (I believe this is the number) 29 local charities to directly benefit the people of Maui.

[@DominiqueB]

What’s their name?

[@SandyGuest-ec7qj]

Name of this company?

[@ibite3987]

Well so far the charities they list on their page are their own, the VP's and another "that have an intention to give back 100% of net profits". Net profit if you did not know if what you make after all costs, and these companies are very new so they would have debts, marekting etc. to pay. Plus giving to charities is dumb, you just give an amount so the charity can take an amount in fees for operating the charity and the needing get almost nothing... Why not say they pay their farmers very well instead? Their VP of Farm & Factory Operations, Dan O’Doherty has Mars Global Chocolate listed as Industry affiliation and seems to have kickstarted cocoa growing in hawaii, as his name is in almost every "history" of the farms in Hawaii I found. To me, this sounds shady as fuck.

[@belynlynsh6921]

@@ibite3987 I’ve been there personally and don’t find it to be shady. They are new, yes, but what they are doing is admirable, imo.

[@paulinec1491]

you know what? you are right, a bit shady indeed, but the chocolate is grown on the land and harvested on the land of hawaii, and seems like everyone has a living wage. I might be eager to dip my toes into local sourced chocolates. @@ibite3987

[@SuperGreenGuy]

Tony's Chocoloney is actually good chocolate too. Glad to see them mentioned in the piece that they're trying to walk the walk with not using child labor.

[@Bunnykat7]

I have a box set of Tony's chocolate on my desk, I knew chocolate was a problem as an American but had no idea until I bought a bar of Tony's saw the wrapper and started to educate myself. Now as a person who loves chocolate I've made a commitment to myself not to buy chocolate from companies that don't care about the supply chain that leaves the farmers to suffer. Without the farmers there would be no chocolate, they deserve at least the bare minimum. If that means my chocolate bar is a little more expensive so be it. Thank you for highlighting this issue!

[@irismori8283]

I used to give factory tours at a fair trade chocolate company, so I had to study up on this in order to give educated answers to our guests. Thank you for putting the spotlight on this - I know I for one have shifted my chocolate consumption to be a "sometimes" food, when I can afford chocolate with a clear label indicating country of origin (preferably with farm transparency) - if the company indicates origin, they're not hiding they they know where they're buying the beans from, at what's most likely fair prices. Quitting the mass-produced chocolate was/is a huge challenge though, and sometimes unavoidable (eg at restaurants, etc). 😢

[@extropiantranshuman]

how about switching to carob?

[@irismori8283]

@@extropiantranshuman tastes nowhere the same.

[@extropiantranshuman]

I know - it tastes way better! Feels better too.@@irismori8283

[@hogweed1975]

That Dutch journalist, who is called Teun van de Keuken (the original 'Tony' of the Tony's Chocolonely chocolate brand), reported himself to the police later on for the crime of fencing, because he ate a Mars bar after making that documentary. He said: I used to be oblivious to the fact that child slavery is used to make these Mars bar, but after doing that report, I knew, so I am a fencer of these illegal goods.

[@klaasvanhees]

It's a pity LWT's writers didn't point out that Teun van de Keuken (the OG Tony from Tony's Chocolonely) is very critical of the course of Chocolonely's current management, as he thinks they're doing far too little to make their chocolate free of slavery and child labour. He thinks they've abandoned the company's original goals and vision. Now, this is not to say that Tony's Chocolonely is not a better alternative to most of the chocolate brands critiqued in this episode, but it's fair to say that even while a good step forward, there's still a long road ahead, even if everyone suddenly switched to eating only Chocolonely.

[@justrosy5]

Fencing is done with swords. What in the world?

[@Dutchienl2006]

​@@justrosy5 fencing stolen property... it does exist..

[@justrosy5]

@@Dutchienl2006 Ok, literally, what the hell? That's not a normal use of that word at all. Literally, your reply is not helpful at all. Kinda think someone out there just made that up and now no one even actually knows what it means - maybe including you, since you didn't bother to describe what the hell it's supposed to *mean* in this context. Just making stuff up and throwing it out there doesn't mean it actually is a proper use of the word at all. Literally, you're saying that stolen property is being fought to death with a sword, as it defends itself with a sword. Yeah, makes total sense there...

[@reyjo1759]

@@justrosy5 I didn't know it either, but a simple google search for "crime of fencing" gives a lot of results with explanations. It means buying stolen goods.

[@garysquarepants898]

Man, compared to 4 years ago, you became damn better at telling these stories. Jokes on point, quality of structure, amazing journey to a more considerate citizen/company/supply system. Thanks, really!

[@ampersandcastle1091]

Tony’s Chocolonely is SO good, it’s my favourite chocolate!!! I think my favourite might be the caramel sea salt one (orange wrapper) but all of them are so yummy

[@moxielofton7679]

"These countries are not underdeveloped, they are overexploited." -Michael Parenti

[@CogitoErgoSumFortis]

In Mexico, where chocolate is originated (the word comes from the nahuatl Xocolatl) conditions are also dire, because to grow the trees here it requires a complete ecosystem to support the trees to be healthy. The result: more work for lesser pay. The payment is set by the market, since the market exploits people in these African countries and grow them in huge amounts. Mexican caco growers have slowly stopped growing cocoa, destroying their plots (which are like forests) to grow other things, reducing the genetic variety of the original Cacao plant and dwindling the ammount of people who know the traditional way to prepare and farm Cacao. But as always, nobody gives a sht about the whole picture...

[@davidbeppler3032]

You could build a wall to keep Americans out. Show them how it is done. They clearly can't do it. lol

[@Tetres656]

Cocos doesnt come from mexico but south America, between Ecuador and Peru

[@jameskelly6039]

⁠@@Tetres656way to focus on the not important part of that guys thread. Also, you’re wrong. The cocoa plant originated from South America but the first instance of it being processed into chocolate is from Mexico. Cuz as the video showed, it’s a what slimy bean when it starts out.

[@Tetres656]

Because the misinformation that benefits big corporations to do what they want starts with the little details. Just kidding, I’m just an asshole

[@eoagr1780]

@@Tetres656the name comes from nahualt, what aztecs used to speak, look it up.

[@danmeyers2506]

It’s always hilarious to see your child’s first reaction to sugar. My middle daughter first had it on her first birthday when we gave her a piece of birthday cake. She took a couple bites and freaked out. After her second bite she started looking at the spoon trying to figure out a faster way to use it and she put the end of the handle in her teeth, spooned a piece and tilted her head back expecting it to fall into her mouth. When that didn’t work she used her hands and when that wasn’t fast enough she dove in face first.

[@Theomite]

Holy shit, she re-enacted SCARFACE in 80 seconds or less.

[@JGLy22086]

😂😂😂 she knew what she wanted and how to speed it up 😂😂😂

[@richarddevenezia8186]

Gets way worse when the reaction is to boys

[@danmeyers2506]

@user-wh5ir4fo4r we were really conscious of the processed sugar our kids had when they were young. Not overboard about it but sweets every so often and only allowed them to drink soda at parties and special events.

[@godzilla0974]

Have to show this to my mom, sister, girlfriend, grandma. 😂😂😂

[@DerpyLaron]

You forgot to mention the best part about Tonys chocolate. While being a little more prizy (compared to say Milka, but as much as Lind) it tastes so much freaking better

[@oh-duh]

Where can it be bought?

[@LindaC616]

​@odamaeforever XVS and I'm starting to see it at Walmart. Be prepared for $5/bar (giant bar tho)

[@LindaC616]

I'd prefer Milka

[@brandonayong5823]

Milka is super overrated imo. As a kid I was fascinated by their advertising which made it look like the purest most delicious chocolate and when I had it I was very disappointed

[@ladylucia917]

Wasn’t there a kid working in the video from Tony’s???

[@Judithica]

Our household learned of this several years ago. We found Tony's and are able to budget 2 or 3 bars a week. It's amazing how much one can appreciate chocolate so much more from a good quality seller who also doesn't take advantage of their distribution.

[@HH-gv8mx]

I buy blue stripe dark chocolate cacao bars. They have a lot of nutrients in them and are actually good for you. It seems like Tony’s is really high in sugar.

[@Judithica]

@@HH-gv8mx interesting! I don't think they're locally available to me, but may order some to try out. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@Judithica]

@@HH-gv8mx forgive me, but from cursory research, they're backed by Hershey which is kind of a nogo for me.

[@fijnman3813]

The fair wages and choosing partners by Tony’s also has the advantage of improving the production process of the beans. Fermentation temperature and amount of days decide the taste the chocolate has. Educating the farmers to produce more high quality chocolate compensates for the higher price of Tony’s chocolate.

[@shayewitman9607]

And it does taste definitely taste better, you can tell

[@frankiefavero1666]

I often wondered if that whacky niche (and bougie/expensive) Tony's Chocolonely chocolate was any good... Thank you John & team for educating me! I've explored their website, share in their dreams and vision and Ive just purchased over $100 dollars of their chocolate as a treat to me, and the farmers, for Christmas!!! Merry Christmas to all the hard working and good natured farmers of Ghana and Ivory Coast!!!

[@sachadee.6104]

THANK YOU. (from a Dutchie living in Canada).😍 I'm a consumer convinced that consumers have the power to change anything bad. Just let the faulty companies know you won't put up with their practices by NOT BUYING THEIR STUFF.

[@stevenhiggins3331]

And like he said, this is the reason we need regulations on companies because companies won’t do the right thing unless forced to

[@jjcoola998]

And we desperately need someone to break up the monopolies or the setups that are basically function monopolies. Anti trust has been asleep for decades

[@discordiadingle3203]

@@jjcoola998Seriously. Everywhere I look in candy and chocolate, it’s the same couple of companies.

[@LeahIsHereNow]

So, wait… Ayn Rand was wrong?! No way! 😂

[@spongeintheshoe]

@@LeahIsHereNow She’d probably say that it’s the result of government interference. Somehow.

[@Saltyoven]

@StillOuttaYourLeague who cares what that womanchild thinks? She admires serial killers.

[@kingbronny]

Thank you John for bringing this to light. The biggest problem is our inability to process these cocoa beans thus the exportation of the raw beans and pennies paid to these farmers. Then again I can speak as a Ghanaian that the authority in charge (cocobod) is only there to fill their pockets and not the welfare of the cocoa farmers. I know so many cocoa farmers who can't afford their wards tuition but have been farming for decades.

[@rzadigi]

That is horrible. What would a farmer need to process their own beans?❤🙏

[@BirgitteRasine]

@@rzadigi chocolate making equipment... which is very expensive.

[@lofnouk]

Roald Dahl hit the nail on the head in 1964. The original Oompa Loompas were NOT little orange men with green hair.

[@levikay1745]

Chemist here to make a bit about 1:36. Phenylethylamine tells you exactly what molecules are in that macromolecule which tells you what atoms are present. The suffix -ol would insinuate that alcohol is present so the first one can't work; The second one technically can because it's name is arbitrary to the chemical name; the third can't work either because it implies it's a hydrocarbon and the molecule in question has an amine group. When a carbon group contains a phenyl group it is said to be aromatic because many of the aromatic molecules have strong smells like vanilla for example. All of this to say: I think Aromanticamine, or Dat-assisamine would have worked better than erotisol or datassoline.

[@draco1811]

Just flashed back to Org. Chem and all those damned bonding angles...