Ethical chocolate makers Tony’s Chocolonely has apologised after leaving one of its advent calendar windows empty.

The Dutch company left the day eight space empty to highlight inequality in the industry and said it was meant to be “a great conversation starter for change”.

But customers sent in a deluge of complaints, with children left upset at the missing sweet treat.

The firm has said it is sorry that the move has caused “confusion and disappointment”.

Tony’s said it left the space empty as it was using its products to “tell the story of the choco industry – an industry unequally divided and choc-full of inequality”.

It added that at least 1.56 million children in Ghana and the Ivory Coast are working under illegal conditions because the price for cocoa is too low.

“Worst still, at least 30,000 adults and children are forced to work. We don’t think that’s okay,” it said in a social media post.

To make up for the missing chocolate, there were two chocolates in each of the windows for 9 and 24 December, which means people were getting 25 chocolates in the 24 windows.

How did people react?

The move received a mixed response from people on social media, with one Twitter user commenting that it was a “hard fail”.

Another said: “There’s ways and means of promoting inequality – an empty advent calendar door is not the way to do it.”

But some people welcomed the move, with one Facebook user describing it as “a great way to highlight the situation, especially during a season when so many of us are surrounded by so much”.

Another added that it was a “great way to teach a child about fairness and equality”.

Who are Tony’s Chocolonely?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWqMkFisCxH/

Tony’s Chocolonely was founded in 2005 by Dutch journalist Teun van de Keuken and in 2018 it held 18% of the market share in the Netherlands, making it one of the country’s largest chocolate makers.

Mr van de Keuken began investigating the abuses in the cocoa industry in 2002.

In 2005, he decided to start producing his own chocolate bars and has grown domestically and abroad.

The company says it is working with farmers to help remove the need for low-paid labour.

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