Tony’s Chocolonely is proving that doing good can also mean doing well. In a year of soaring cocoa prices and crop challenges, the mission-led chocolate brand has shown that ethics and growth can go hand-in-hand — and it’s urging the wider industry to step up too. Hannah Barnett reports on another successful year for the proudly sustainable business.
In the crowded confectionary market, one company is showing the category how it’s done. That is: grow fast, stay profitable and scale impact – all at the same time. In a year marked by record cocoa prices and supply pressure, Tony’s Chocolonely, which has made its name as a mission-led brand, has delivered 20% year-on-year revenue growth, while massively expanding its ethical sourcing model through Tony’s Open Chain.
Revenue reached €240m, with the US now Tony’s biggest market after clocking an impressive 50% growth. Total volume rose 4%, and operating profit has increased €3m year-on-year, as the business continued to invest in production and distribution.
But the numbers only tell half the story. The real engine behind Tony’s momentum is its impact on the ground. Beans sourced via Tony’s Open Chain climbed 50% to nearly 27,000 metric tonnes, improving livelihoods for more than 30,000 cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Long-term partner co-operatives now report child labour prevalence below 5%, versus an industry average of 46.7%, while 99.99% of cocoa is verified deforestation-free.
On shelf, Tony’s continues to win with both core and new formats. Its 180g bars remain the backbone of the business, while the newer 90g range offers a more accessible price point. In the UK, the milk rice crispy caramel bar created Tony’s biggest organic social launch ever, helping UK & Ireland sales rise 14% to €51.2m.
“It’s been a challenging year, but we’ve shown how resilient and effective our model is,” said CEO Douglas Lamont. “We have shown strong growth in revenue, volume, profitability and, most importantly, impact on the ground for cocoa-farming families.
“We are immensely proud to take yet another step forward in proving the case for a more holistic impact model for the cocoa industry. As an industry, we need to learn the lessons of this recent crisis and make a collective long-term commitment to paying cocoa farmers a higher price.”
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