One woman has shared her disbelief after she realised she’s been saying the name of popular ethical chocolate brand Tony’s wrong her whole life – and she’s not the only one
Strolling down the chocolate aisle, it’s tough to overlook Tony’s eye-catching wrappers that make it a firm favourite for many. Yet, despite the brand name emblazoned across each chocolate bar in unmissable letters, it seems a lot of us have been getting the name wrong. The Dutch confectionery company has won over Brits lately, not just for its delicious treats but also for its commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. Tony’s mission is clear on their website: they aim to “end all forms of exploitation in the cocoa industry”.
However, a revelation has surfaced that we’ve been mispronouncing the brand’s name all along. Phoebe, an interior design enthusiast who shares her updates online, recently had an epiphany about her own mispronunciation of the brand, which she felt turned her world upside down.
On her @crafternoons TikTok page, Phoebe confessed: “I just realised it’s not Tony’s Choco-loney. It’s Tony’s Choco-lonely. I’ve been saying Tony’s Chocoloney this whole time. Tony’s Chocolonely. What?”
She further questioned things in her video’s caption, saying: “Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s been getting this wrong. Tony’s Chocolonely. Questioning who I really am at this point. Feels like my chocoholic status is a lie.”
To add to the mix-up, Tony’s official account cheekily commented: “Loney… lonely… did we change it overnight… did we not…”, adding a playful twist to the confusion.
It seems that many fans of the chocolate brand have been left scratching their heads, unsure of its actual name. One person claimed: “No, I swear I did an assignment on this at uni about fair trade chocolate. It was Tony’s Chocoloney – I think they just rebranded.”
Another individual shared the same theory, saying: “I SWEAR the name changed to lonely. It was defo Chocolony. No one can convince me otherwise.”
A third person even admitted to double-checking the name online, saying: “I just had to Google the name to make sure you weren’t messing! I’ve called it choco-loney too.”
However, Tony’s Chocolonely has since set the record straight in a blog post on their website. They clarified: “POV [point of view]: You’ve been saying our name wrong all this time. We’re lone-ly, not loney.”
The company went on to explain the origins of their name, which dates back to 2003 when journalist Teun, also known as Tony, van de Keuken investigated human rights abuses in the cocoa industry on a Dutch TV show called Keuringsdienst van Waarde. The investigation, which focused on Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, uncovered a serious issue with illegal labour, including an estimated 1.56 million children working on cocoa farms.
Tony’s Chocolonely’s name has been a point of confusion for many, but the company has finally put the record straight, confirming that it’s always been Chocolonely, not Chocoloney. When his warnings about the scale of the issue fell on deaf ears, he took matters into his own hands.
In 2005, he unveiled a range of chocolate bars crafted from ethically sourced cocoa beans. The company’s website explains: “‘Cause Tony is easier to pronounce than Teun, he decided to brand these bars ‘Tony’s Chocolonely’ – a nod to Teun’s lonely fight against exploitation in the cocoa industry.”