Tony's Sourcing Principles

Tony's 5 Sourcing principles visual representation.

Tony’s playbook for fighting exploitation in cocoa: poverty, child labor and deforestation.

At Tony’s, we exist to end exploitation in the cocoa industry – fighting poverty, child labor + deforestation. Not just in our own chocolate, but in all chocolate worldwide. So, we developed Tony’s Sourcing Principles to build long-term business relationships with our suppliers in West Africa.

Our rules for change: we trace our cocoa from bean to bar, we always pay cocoa farmers a price that enables them to earn a living income, we invest in strong farmers, we nurture long-term relationships and we stay committed to quality and productivity. But no principle is principal.. they have to be applied together. No cherry picking!

The strategy starts with us, but we want to see change across the industry as a whole. That’s why we share Tony’s Sourcing Principles via Tony’s Open Chain, our sourcing model that allows other brands to source their cocoa through our supply chain, according to Tony’s Sourcing Principles!

Tony's 5 Sourcing principles: traceable cocoa beans, higher price, stronger farmers, long-term, quality and productivity.

Tracing (cocoa) beans

Knowing who the farmers we source from are and engaging in direct relationships with partner cooperatives means understanding bean origins, producers and related social and environmental factors, which are all vital to taking responsibility - fighting exploitation in cocoa.

Supporting strong farmers

The name of the game here is professionalisation. That means collaborating with partner cooperatives to improve professionalised farming practices and implement resilient farming businesses.

Going for the long-term

We establish long-term commitments to work together with cocoa farmers and partner cooperatives to address challenges and plan for the future.

Paying a price that enables a living income

If labor’s so valuable, then a product’s price should reflect that, right? We definitely think so. That’s why we bridge the gap between the farmgate price (the minimum price that farmers receive for their cocoa) and the Living Income Reference Price, which is the price farmers need to be paid to enable them to earn a living income and run healthy farms.

We do this by paying 2 premiums: the Fairtrade premium and the living income premium. This is in line with our Living Income Model.

Improving quality + productivity

Investing in agricultural knowledge and skills, as well as organizing labor brigades via partner cooperatives enhances cocoa quality and yields, boosting farmer income and preventing deforestation.

Poverty, child labor and deforestation are the chocolate industry’s bitter truth. Tony's Sourcing Principles are the sweet solution. And together, we can fight exploitation in cocoa. Bar by bar. Bite by bite.