Tony’s Chocolonely, the impact company that makes chocolate, scores top marks on the chocolate industry’s independent sustainability assessment ‘the Chocolate Scorecard’ for the 5th consecutive time. Tony’s was honoured with the Chocolate Showcard’s Achievement Award due to its high scores and leading position in policy and practice for 5 years straight. This underlines the brand’s position as industry leader and highlights its commitment to end all forms of exploitation in the cocoa industry.
The Chocolate Scorecard – founded by Be Slavery Free and Mighty Earth, along with other civil society organisations and research institutes – evaluates chocolate brands based on ethical sourcing, sustainability and labour practices, guiding consumers toward responsible chocolate choices during peak chocolate season.
Tony’s Chocolonely scored high across the board, receiving a green score in the traceability, living income, child labour, deforestation, and agroforestry categories – as seen in 2023. Tony’s always works via its 5 Sourcing Principles, which include paying the price for a living income for 100% traceable beans. By paying this higher price directly to the farmers, Tony’s is ending child labour and deforestation, resulting in a green score.
Tony’s chemical and pesticide management score remains yellow. Primarily, because the brand is not organic – a conscious choice to include as many cocoa farmers as possible. This year, the Scorecard experts agreed that organic is not the only sustainable way to manage pests. Overall, Tony’s use of chemicals is limited, only occurring when strictly necessary, and according to the Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance standards.
“Tony’s chemical and pesticide management score remains yellow. Primarily, because the brand is not organic – a conscious choice to include as many cocoa farmers as possible.”
While Tony’s is delighted to receive this award it is concerning that there has been very little progress in the cocoa industry as a whole since the scorecard was first published – with many big chocolate companies receiving yellow, orange and red scores across the board.
Tony’s Open Chain Lead, Joke Aerts, shares: “It’s amazing for our impact work to be acknowledged for the 5th time through this Achievement Award – we’re super happy with that. But we had hoped to see more big players with improved scores. Year after year, we prove that our sourcing model is replicable and scalable for every business. And so we invite all other cocoa-buying companies to join our way of working, sourcing cocoa responsibly through Tony’s Open Chain. Because it’s only together that will end exploitation in cocoa.”
Showing progress and transparency across all categories, Tony’s achievement on the Chocolate Scorecard’s shows that taking responsibility for its supply chains can be the norm, not the exception.
Editorial contact:
Editor: Kiran Grewal kgrewal@kennedys.co.uk
