Aldi has partnered with Tony’s Chocolonely to launch its first 100% responsibly sourced chocolate Easter egg, despite its recent controversy.
The Choco Changer Ethical Chocolate Egg is sourced through open-chain by Tony’s Chocolonely and comes in two different flavours, 70% Dark Chocolate, or Milk Salted Caramel – retailing for £4.99.
The announcement comes just in time for Fairtrade Fortnight, a promotional campaign to increase awareness of Fairtrade products, which kicked off on 21 February.
However, the news follows the chocolate brand admitted to 1,700 incidents of child labour in its supply chain last year.
According to the company’s annual report for 2020/21, 1,701 cases of child labour were found on its West Africa farms, where its cacao is sourced. The figure was up from 387, which was found in 2019/20.
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A Tony’s Chocolonely spokesperson told Supply Management: “We look for both problems in our supply chain and while we have never found any cases of modern slavery, we do find instances of child labour and report this in our Annual Fair Report.”
“Finding cases of child labour in your supply chain means you are taking responsibility and change is happening, which is reflected in the reduction in the prevalence of child labour at our long-term partner cooperatives.”
The Easter egg joins the discount grocer’s existing range of Fairtrade products, including chocolates, flowers and wine.
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1 Comment. Leave new
How can it be 100% responsibly sourced when they are admitting child labour is used in its supply chain?