Today, there are an estimated 1.56 million children engaged in child labor on cocoa farms in West Africa – a result of systemic poverty and chronic underpayment farmers face. Tony’s Chocolonely was founded to change that. An impact company that makes chocolate, it fights to end exploitation in cocoa.
In 2024, Tony’s Chocolonely embarked on a pivotal expansion, introducing our brand and mission to a broader audience through the world’s largest retailer: Walmart . The move also meant exposing Tony’s to a new mass market audience, unfamiliar territory when compared to our established fan base in the natural premium sector.
Our primary objective was clear: make delicious chocolate that doesn’t come at the expense of cocoa farmers’ wellbeing, or the health of the planet accessible to everyone. We aimed to raise widespread awareness of Tony’s Chocolonely’s commitment to chocolate that not only tastes good, but does good beyond our existing consumer base. Through a creator-led campaign, we sought to generate authentic engagement and drive significant reach, educating new consumers on their ability to choose something deliciously different.
The goal was not just to promote a product, but to inspire change: to show millions that choosing chocolate that tastes good and does good is both possible and powerful. Ultimately, this campaign was about democratizing impact – making the option to fight child labor and support fair trade part of the everyday shopping experience.
Our North American expansion into Walmart, necessitated a fundamental shift in our strategy. To succeed, we had to evolve – from a niche brand beloved by ethically minded consumers, to one that could resonate with a broad, mass-market audience across North America. Our strategy needed to meet new consumers where they were without diluting our mission, so we built a creator-led campaign around relatability, authenticity, and diversity.
We understood that to resonate with this new audience, we needed to speak their language, integrating our message seamlessly into their daily lives and interests, rather than relying on our commitment to ethical sourcing alone.
Therefore, our approach was to cultivate a wide-ranging roster of creators – from micro-influencers to mega personalities - who could genuinely connect with various segments of our target demographic. We partnered with a mosaic of voices, including busy moms and dads who prioritize mindful consumption and moments of connection for their families, passionate foodies seeking delicious and responsible choices, engaging entertainers who could infuse our mission with their unique flair, and homemakers who value quality and ethical production in their everyday purchases. Each infused their own personality into their content, empowered by the creative freedom we built into our briefs. This deliberate move to be creator-led ensured that Tony's Chocolonely's story was told through lenses that felt familiar and resonated with a broad spectrum of consumers. This resulted in high-performing content that felt engaging, real, and culturally relevant – better than we could have ever scripted it.
A consistent theme emerged from our creators: the Everything Bar -- highlighting a unique product opportunity for our brand with the Walmart audience. Creators gravitated toward it, and audiences responded. It rose to become a top 3 performing item at Walmart.
We demonstrated agility and responsiveness by swiftly identifying and partnering with creators at the epicenter of cultural conversations. For example, our partnership with Jools Lebron which helped us spread a message about the joy of conscious consumption during the holiday season, while, we Mason Smith, or “The Dad Social”, provided aspirational “POV you’re a dad” content that delivered unexpected emotional impact. One sponsored project for this campaign garnered significant national attention, featured on Good Morning America and ABC News.
By telling our story through trusted voices, we were able to tap into the zeitgeist, generating earned media and amplifying our message far beyond the scope of traditional paid initiatives, ultimately showcasing Tony's Chocolonely's mission in an accessible and compelling way to millions of new potential consumers.
Our Deliciously Different campaign achieved results that significantly exceeded our objectives, bringing Tony’s Chocolonely’s mission to a mass-market audience. The campaign’s robust performance is underscored by the following key metrics from our campaign data:
Notably, the campaign helped double our North American sales from 2023 to 2024 – a direct result of increased visibility, relatability, and consumer trust.
We also uncovered a powerful insight: the Everything Bar uniquely resonates with the Walmart consumer. Once a lower-performing product, rose to become a top 3 ranking item at Walmart.
Beyond the quantitative results, the campaign fostered meaningful connections and significantly amplified our brand’s message. It turned an abstract problem – exploitation in coca – into something consumers felt empowered to act on, proving that products that taste good and do good can be successfully mainstream.
The campaign’s success earned recognition from Fortune Magazine this year, which highlighted our innovative approach to influencer marketing and its effectiveness in driving results for the brand.
Ultimately, now Tony’s Chocolonely’s mission to end exploitation in cocoa is more recognized than ever, and the option to choose to end exploitation in cocoa with every delicious bite is more broadly accessible than ever.
