Amsterdam, 1 June 2021. Tony’s Chocolonely, the chocolate maker on a mission to make all chocolate 100% slave free, has opened its first Duty Free shop, operated by its partner Schiphol Airport Retail (SAR), a joint venture between Gebr. Heinemann and the Royal Schiphol Group. Tony’s single-brand store is in Lounge 3 at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The store extends over a sales area of 50 sqm and offers passengers a broad and colourful assortment that includes chocolate bars of all sizes and flavours, gift articles, and merchandise such as t-shirts and tote bags. A special highlight of the range are Travel Retail Exclusive articles, comprising a 320-gram Tiny Tony’s Pouch Pack and the newly launched 240-gram bars in flavours such as milk, dark, almond sea salt, milk caramel sea salt, hazelnut and nougat. “With its colourful designs and extraordinary flavours, Tony’s Chocolonely is a big attraction. The eye-catching store adds great value and fun to the travellers’ overall shopping experience at the airport,” says Simon Asmus, Managing Director at SAR.
Higher visibility for the brand’s mission
The store features a big LED screen and digital displays. These digital touchpoints draw passengers into the shop and tell the story and mission of Tony’s Chocolonely in an interactive way. Tony’s mission is to make 100% slave free the norm in chocolate by creating awareness for the inequality in the cocoa chain, leading by example and inspiring others to act.
Use of environmentally friendly resources
Tony’s is committed to using environmentally friendly resources. For example, for its new Travel Retail Exclusive 240-gram chocolate bar, the company changed the wrapping from plastic to paper. These efforts are also evident in the well-chosen materials of the shop, which have a reduced environmental impact, produce less waste and pollution, and consume less energy. The materials include bamboo for the furniture, cork for the wall covering, and completely re-used lighting and luminaires.
Commercial success and sustainability go hand in hand
“Travel Retail is one of the highest quality platforms for our brand to strengthen our image and provide visibility among international and conscious consumers. The partnership with SAR is an opportunity for Tony’s to grow the category together and build a platform where we can tell our story, win even more fans and therefore change the industry together. There is a clear shared goal to achieve commercial success for both partners and at the same time take the social and ecological impact of the business into account,” says Ivan van Kooten, Export & Duty Free Retail Manager at Tony’s Chocolonely.
The few passengers who fly enjoy the Travel Retail offer
Pre-Covid-19 around 70 million passengers used Amsterdam Airport Schiphol each year. In the first quarter of 2021, passenger numbers have been around 15 per cent of 2019 levels. SAR expects that figures will develop to approximately 30 per cent of 2019 levels through the summer and further to 65 per cent by the end of the year. “We can see that the few passengers who are flying are happy that our shops are open. We are even recording rising sales per passenger and feel confident that our business will experience a swift recovery once passenger numbers increase again,” Simon Asmus concludes.
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