I am so sad to be leaving this wonderful city and all the new friends I have made. Today we had a leisure morning to do things on our own. A few of us went and grabbed some bagels and then began to pack up all our things. Later in the afternoon Joke from Tony’s Chocolonely came to talk about the company and the supply chain of cacao. The mission of the company is to make really tasty chocolate all while making a good impact. Many chocolate company around the world use child labor to increase productivity. Tony’s has made it their priority that this does not happen at their company, but to also prevent this issue around the world. I’m order to do this Tony’s uses the open chain sourcing principles. These are making their beans traceable, paying a higher price to farmers, creating strong framers, committing to farmers for a long period of time, help farmers improve diversity of their crops. It is so important to follow this model because the cocoa industry is said to have the worst supply chains in the world. This is because many of the farmers are living in poverty, they use illegal child labor, and deforestation. Tony’s not only doesn’t do all this themselves, but creates a mission and plan for other companies to do that same. They have creates awareness, lead by example, and inspire to act. They are improving the supply chain of the cacao industry as a whole. After the presentation we headed to the Tony’s store downtown and got to look at all the different kinds of chocolate and even see how they are made. This was a really great experience and I will definitely be more mindful in the future when it comes to chocolate.

After our chocolate filled afternoon we headed to our farewell dinner as a group. We went to this really delicious Indonesian spot and had a wonderful time all together. It was great to spend one last night in The Netherlands with everyone and reminisce on all the fun we’ve had. I am going to miss this group so much! Doei Amsterdam:((