Monday, January 24, 2022

Tony's Chocolonely - Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat - Jan. 23, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Tony's Chocolonely
Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat bar
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 6.35 oz. (180 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 serving (30 g.) of bar
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 bar (thank you Don!)
Purchased from: New Leaf Markets, Half Moon Bay, CA

Welcome to Day #17 of European Chocolate Vacation Theme Week.

Today's Milk Chocolate Honey Almond Nougat bar from Tony's Chocolonely Inc. (New York, NY) and was made in Belgium. 

The chocolate company was founded in the Netherlands in 2005 by three journalists with a vision to eliminate illegal child labor/slavery practices* (primarily in the (West African) cacao supply chain, where farmers are often paid very little. In addition to helping to educate consumers, Tony's Chocolonely supports and carefully sources fair trade ingredients.

As one of the last imaginary European stops via chocolate, I imagined a walk along canals in Amsterdam, a stop at the Van Gogh Museum in the city's Museum Quarter, and a search for a rumor that Tony's Chocoloney chocolate bars can be found in vending machines there. (Yes, it's true, there is a wall-sized, "mega-super" vending machine in Tony's Store in the Westerpark area of Amsterdam.)

Today's ultra-thick bar required some concentration to bite through (a bit like a large, alpine mountain shaped Swiss Toblerone bar.)

The bar had a sweet milk chocolate and nut aroma and sweet, smooth (32%) milk chocolate flavor. Honey nut nougat flecks added crunchy texture. These nougat pieces had a faint, natural honied, layered sweetness (light honied milk tea).

Ingredients: Sugar dry whole milk, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, 10% nougat (cane sugar, glucose syrup (wheat), 2% almonds, potato starch, honey, cocoa butter, egg white), soy lecithin.

Allergen-related information: (Contained milk, wheat, tree nuts (almonds), egg and soy.) "May contain tree nuts and peanut."

*A high percentage of European (and other commercial) chocolates are made using West African cacao. Tony's founders talked about how they were one of the few chocolate companies actively talking about "slave-free" chocolate in the early-mid 2000s. Hence the name Tony's "Chocolonely."

In 2021, Tony's Chocolonely made an acquisition announcement, around plans for an expanded role in an existing (Althaea-De Laet) chocolate factory (Tony's Chocolonely Chocolate Circus), on the border between Zaanstad and Amsterdam. They will become more involved in their own manufacturing and continue to pursue their goal of making "100% slave-free chocolate the norm in the industry."

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