Howard Schultz, former chief executive officer and founder of Starbucks has bought shares in Dutch ethical chocolate brand, Tony’s Chocolonely.
The chocolate company’s CEO, Douglas Lamont, said: “We are proud to welcome Howard Schultz as an investor in the company, and we are looking forward to drawing on his extensive experience of building a global consumer brand and company. Tony's rapid revenue growth, rising popularity with US consumers and increased investor interest demonstrates that building a company that balances shareholder returns with its impact on people and planet is not only right thing to do but the smart thing to do for companies today.”
The B-Corp company, which champions Fairtrade, raised €20m of capital funding in June last year. Lamount said that the investment would be used to “help [the company] accelerate our progress towards our mission of ending exploitation in the cocoa industry.”
