Noah x Tony’s Chocolonely
There are few things in this world that are legitimately “guilt-free." As consumers within all industries, there is a cognitive dissonance that exists in most, if not all of us, allowing us to be at least aware of ethical issues that exist within everyday item manufacturing, but distance ourselves from the victims so it doesn’t impede on the things we enjoy. We see this from dangerous cobalt mining in the Congo that allows us to have smartphones to something as sweet as chocolate.
For decades, the chocolate industry has reaped the benefits of what can be considered at best illegal labor, and at worst modern day slavery, and so have we as consumers. Cocoa farmers, which by majority reside in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, earn on average 78 cents per day to sustain their entire lives. This tremendously low wage is why over 1.5 million children are working under illegal and dangerous conditions to provide additional income for their households. On top of this, an estimated 30,000 people, both adult and children, are victims of modern day slavery — forced to work and not paid at all for their labor.
It is the mission of Tony’s Chocolonely to not only provide guilt-free chocolate to the world, but even more ambitiously, work towards making the entire chocolate industry 100% slavery free, while simultaneously empowering the cocoa farmers to be autonomous and self-sustaining in the long run. This is no easy feat and really comes down to exclusively buying fully traceable cocoa beans directly from cocoa farmers, paying a higher premium for the beans to provide the cocoa farmers with truly livable income, committing to working with farmers for a minimum of 5 years, and providing long lasting foundational tools for them learn how to professionalize their farms and learn agricultural skills that will sustain them for years to come.
This summer Noah is collaborating with Tony’s Chocolonely to help amplify their efforts and bring awareness to the seldomly discussed issue of modern slavery in the cocoa industry. This Saturday, June 26, we will host a pop-up at our Flagship store in SoHo where we will sell a collaborative Tony’s Chocolonely x Noah t-shirt, complete with a free bar of Tony’s chocolate. All proceeds will go directly to the Chocolonely Foundation. We’ll also have a second pop-up out at our Hideout in Amagansett, NY on July 7th for another opportunity to get the tee and chocolate bars.
Special thanks to Tony’s Chocolonely and Joshua Kissi for allowing us to feature a selection of images from their Reframed Project, an effort highlighting their ambassadors working toward a more equally divided cocoa chain throughout Ghana and Ivory Coast.
You can read more about Tony’s mission HERE.
Didier Digbeu Kakou
Cocoa farmer and winner of the Best Farmer Award, Bateguedea, Ivory Coast.
Stephen Ashia
Manager coop ABOCFA, Suhum, Ghana
Faustina Tei
Cocoa farmer and winner of the Best Farmer Award, Aponoapono, Ghana
Eugenie Lagos
Cocoa farmer and president of the Women Association of coop ECOJAD, Ziguedia, Ivory Coast
Daouda Coulibaly
Cocoa farmer and board member of coop ECOJAD, Zahia, Ivory Coast