Strong brand purpose creates strong company culture.
A Q+A with Tony's Chocolonely's Aidaly Sosa.
BRAND PURPOSE: to make chocolate 100% slave free.
Tony’s Chocolonely is an impact brand that makes chocolate, founded by three Dutch journalists who discovered that the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers bought cocoa from plantations that used child labor + modern slavery practices.
Today, the Certified B Corporation™ has also stayed true to its mission of making chocolate 100% slave free, worldwide. Whether through creative packaging that calls out its competitors’ alarming practices or partnerships like a recent product launch with Ben & Jerry’s, Tony’s Chocolonely is out to prove that business as a force for good should be the norm, not the exception. Its company culture, says Aidaly Sosa, head of marketing for Tony’s Chocolonely USA, is an anchor for the brand as it raises awareness of social issues on a global scale, leads by example + inspires others to act on a global scale.
You’re a brand with a baked-in (melted-in?) purpose. How do you live this purpose from the inside out?
We have a north star: to change and solve the issues within the cocoa industry. But the quality and values of our brand are applicable to our work in so many ways. It guides us as we show empathy for problems in the industry but with a positive mind in the way that we solve it. And when people join the company, they really feel this commitment. It’s not just something you say outside. It’s something we say multiple times a day to our coworkers and is proven through everything we do in the company. It’s not only a story for the outside — we live it on the inside. And it’s sometimes the littlest things that make a difference in a company.
How does your brand purpose help you both recruit + retain employees?
Tony’s is very serious about people, so our company culture is a magnet for what we want to attract. We believe that what we show to the outside world serves as a magnet to what we want to attract. We benefit from the brand image we have out there and it brings to us the type of talent we have coming in. Everyone has a shared passion for social justice, so with that in mind, you have a common mindset to be empathetic toward others, to be open, to listen. We encourage each other to be open-minded, with positive, solution-oriented mindsets. That’s so wired within the company.
How does your brand’s purpose impact your company culture?
To be a Tony, you need to have four things. You need to be willful, outspoken, have the ability to make people smile, + be entrepreneurial. The company looks for the perfect balance between these four things. Each value represents what we stand for and the toolbox we need to go against the current and be focused and have a clear north star with what we achieve with our mission. We’re a small brand that wants to have a big voice, so how do we do that? Be willful. Don’t take no for an answer. We are outspoken about the brand within the cocoa industry and we want people to speak out about what they care about. Make people smile: it’s like our packaging is very playful and fun, but it brings a very serious message.
This conversation originally appeared in the 2022 Purpose Up report. To read more about how and why to double down in tough times click on the report download link below.
