Amsterdam, 20 March 2024 – 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 honored 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 organizations and research institutes – evaluates chocolate brands based on ethical sourcing, sustainability and labor 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 labor, 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 labor 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.  

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.  

NOTES TO EDITORS   
About the Chocolate Scorecard 
The Chocolate Scorecard is a credible, independent sustainability assessment of chocolate companies, initiated by Be Slavery Free, Mighty Earth and other civil society organizations and research institutes. It assesses all chocolate companies in the chocolate industry. The Chocolate Scorecard is released yearly around Easter, one of the largest chocolate shopping holidays. More information on the Chocolate Scorecard can be found here: www.thechocolatescorecard.com.  

About Tony’s Chocolonely    
Tony’s Chocolonely is an impact company that makes chocolate, dedicating its efforts to ending child labor, forced labor and all forms of exploitation in cocoa.  They have grown to become one of the market leaders in the Netherlands and are rapidly growing worldwide. Tony's Chocolonely is a B Corp and is Fairtrade-certified.    

About Tony’s Open Chain    
Companies are invited to join Tony's Chocolonely in its ambition to end exploitation in cocoa together, by becoming Mission Allies and sourcing cocoa beans through Tony’s Open Chain. In doing so, their beans are sourced according to Tony's 5 Sourcing Principles from communities where the Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System is fully implemented.   

About Tony’s 5 Sourcing Principles  
Tony’s 5 Sourcing Principles aim to structurally improve the lives of cocoa farming families. They consist of (1) sourcing 100% traceable cocoa beans, (2) paying a higher price for cocoa to enable farmers to earn a living income, (3) promoting strong partner co-operatives to professionalize and make cocoa farming safe and sustainable, (4) engaging in long-term commitments to boost farmers’ income security, (5) training farmers to improve their productivity and cocoa quality.    

For more information:  
Tony McTony   
tony@tonyschocolonely.com  
+31208008649