TONY’S OPEN CHAIN IMPACT REPORT
Photo by: Nuits Balnéaires
Table of contents
Tony’s Open Chain governance & finances 103 Governance 105 Financial statement
Introduction 3
Word of welcome from the team
Living income 48 At a glance 49 The living income challenge 52 Our progress 54 Our roadmap towards a living income for cocoa farmers
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Executive summary – our year at a glance
12 A day in the life of a cocoa farmer
Interesting appendices 110 Publications library 111 Revised KPIs for Tony’s Open Chain 119 Overview of performance against KPIs 123 Definitions
How we aim to end exploitation in cocoa, together 18 How can we shift the industry…faster? 20 The (business) case for Tony’s Open Chain 23 Double Materiality Assessment: results
Climate, environment and productivity 65 At a glance 66 Climate change and productivity in cocoa 70 Tony’s Open Chain’s new productivity programme 75 Deforestation 76 Pesticides
Scaling for change 26 At a glance 28 Partner cooperatives 33 A day in the life of a cooperative manager 40 Farmers 42 Mission Allies & other supply chain partners
Human rights 80 At a glance 81 Child labour 84 A day in the life of a community facilitator 101 Forced labour 101 Grievance mechanisms 102 Women’s rights 102 Due diligence across the value chain
WELCOME, BIENVENUE, AKWAABA!
It’s a real pleasure to welcome you to this year’s Tony’s Open Chain impact report. As you turn these pages, we hope you’ll find a story that’s both optimistic and honest. One of growth, hard-earned lessons and a shared purpose that drives us forward. This report is about more than numbers, though they matter. They help us understand what’s working, and what still needs fixing. But behind the data lies something deeper: the lived reality of cocoa farmers today, and the role we can all play in driving change. In this report, ECOJAD, one of our partner cooperatives, provided insights into what that reality looks like for them. Cocoa farmers face extraordinary challenges. Despite record-high market prices, better livelihoods remain out of reach. After decades of prices too low for them to move out of poverty, last season finally saw farmgate prices rise above the Living Income Reference Price. It’s a step forward. But climate change, cocoa disease, and years of farm underinvestment meant many farmers earned only a little more for a lot less cocoa. High prices with long-term stability are essential for structural change. That’s why they’re embedded in the 5 Sourcing Principles. But improving pricing alone isn’t enough. Poor yields and slow crop recovery reveal the urgent need for productivity support. In response, last season we launched an Emergency Productivity Boost to help cocoa farmers recover and rebuild.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
How does it work?
Challenges weren’t limited to cocoa farming. At the policy level, delays and rollbacks in EU regulations threaten progress on human rights and environmental due diligence. Still, there’s hope: many cocoa companies have stepped up, showing that change is possible. Now it’s up to legislators to ensure laggards aren’t rewarded. And the will to act is real. Together with our Mission Allies, we’ve scaled impact like never before. Every bean we source drives direct change, fighting deforestation, tackling child and forced labour, and supporting strong farmers and healthy farms. This season, we’re proud to report:
Our vision : A future where cocoa farmers are enabled to earn (at least) a living income, where children can go to school, learn and play and where forests are protected. Why should you join Tony’s Open Chain? The cocoa industry’s main issues – poverty, illegal labour and deforestation – remain inadequately addressed. We believe that it is only through collaboration that we can end exploitation in cocoa, which is why we partner with companies and other stakeholders to demonstrate a business model that works at scale. What is it all about? Tony’s Open Chain offers a sourcing solution for companies that want to work on proactively addressing poverty, illegal labour and deforestation in their cocoa supply chain. How do we enable change? Tony’s Open Chain provides companies and businesses with a cocoa-sourcing model that targets the root causes of exploitation in the industry. Our impact model, which has our 5 Sourcing Principles at its core, has evolved out of all the work done by Tony’s Chocolonely over the last 20 years. In 2019, Tony’s Open Chain was created to open up this model to other companies in order to accelerate change in the cocoa sector and prove faster that the model could work at scale. These sourcing principles are:
Sourcing around 27,000 metric tonnes of cocoa (+52% since the previous season)
Driving impact with 32,133 cocoa farmers (+58% since the previous season)
Partnering with 19 cooperatives (+8 since the previous season)
Scaling fast requires careful attention in order to also scale responsibly. We’ve learned a lot about what this means and strengthened governance, improved processes and expanded capabilities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. We’re also setting up our own Tony’s Open Chain entities in both countries to directly employ all teams on equal terms.
To all our Mission Allies – your commitment drives change.
A higher price
Strong farmers
Traceability
Together, we can turn insights into impact.
Rianne van Doeveren, General Manager, on behalf of the Tony’s Open Chain team
The long term
Quality & productivity
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Executive Summary This year, the Tony’s Open Chain community grew stronger and reached further than ever before. In 2024/25, we welcomed thousands more cocoa farmers into our network, sourced record volumes of cocoa and deepened our partnerships with cooperatives and Mission Allies. Every step we took was guided by our shared commitment to the 5 Sourcing Principles (traceability, paying a higher price, building long-term relationships, supporting strong farmers, and improving quality and productivity). For a whistle-stop tour covering the key sections of our report, read on! • Despite a shifting industry, the 3 big issues in cocoa persist. Although regulatory developments are requiring companies to implement greater levels of due diligence across their supply chains, and although there have been massive leaps forward in sector-collaboration and rights-holder visibility 1 , the key issues in cocoa have not changed: most cocoa farmers still struggle to earn a living income, child labour remains widespread, and deforestation rates in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana continue at alarming rates. As an industry, we are running far behind on achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and we need to push harder to accelerate change. • So how can we shift the industry faster? By increasing the volume of cocoa sourced using the 5 Sourcing Principles. The higher this volume, the deeper the investments in farmers’ livelihoods that can be made. As volumes increase, more cocoa-growing families
Chain: we were created to enable collective action together with other cocoa-sourcing companies. We know we don’t have all the answers, and we’re always open to learning from our peers. Anyone can join the commitment to source their cocoa in accordance with the 5 Sourcing Principles. If you’re interested, we’d love to hear from you! • The (Business) Case for Tony’s Open Chain: Ethical sourcing – via the 5 Sourcing Principles – is not only morally right but also commercially viable. We highlight key aspects that make Tony’s Open Chain a smart choice: supply chain security through long- term relationships and farmer loyalty, a focus on productivity, which will drive higher yields and secure the long-term success of the cocoa industry, and a long-term strategic approach which focuses on addressing the root causes of issues like child labour, rather than symptoms. Our child labour remediation costs are generally low (ranging from €40 to €253 per case in Côte d’Ivoire and €82 to €196 per case in Ghana), thanks to early detection through frequent monitoring. Most cases involve younger children, for whom support like birth certificates, school kits and bicycles, along with access to primary education, is relatively inexpensive. In contrast, older children often need vocational training, which is more costly. Early intervention not only lowers costs and complexity but also helps prevent long-term harm. • Scaling for change: Tony’s Open Chain grew significantly in 2024/25– across the number of farmers that delivered cocoa to our Mission Allies (32,133: 58% more than last season), cocoa volumes sourced (26,843 metric tons: 52% more), partner cooperatives engaged (22: 8 more, increasing our network by 57% compared to last season), and
Mission Allies onboarded (2: bringing them to 22 in total). More broadly, we reached 2 33,427 cocoa farmers through shared programmes, the equivalent of around 1.3% of West African cocoa farmers (compared with 0.98% last season). We still have a long way to go, but we are making great strides. In the coming year, our focus will be on strengthening our existing partnerships and growing our impact mindfully, prioritising depth over breadth. • Living income : Enabling a living income for cocoa farmers remains a key challenge and focus. Our living income analysis showed that an estimated 40.6% of farmers at our 3 longest-term partner cooperatives earned at or above the living income benchmark this year (a significant increase since last year, when it was 19.1%). Whilst this is great progress, driven by higher farmgate prices and premiums, it also means that 59.4% of farmers are still earning below the benchmark. Higher farmgate prices are a welcome development for improving cocoa farmers’ incomes, but to truly enable cocoa farmers to invest in their farms and build a sustainable future, higher farmgate prices must be maintained over time. This starts with committing to paying, at a minimum, a Living Income Reference Price (LIRP), for the long term. This report outlines our updated 2050 living income vision, focusing on higher prices, improved productivity, resilience-building and targeted support to help more cocoa farmers reach and sustain a living income. 1. Fountain, Antonie C., and Friedel Huetz-Adams. 2025 Cocoa Barometer . VOICE Network, Oct. 2025. 2. The number of farmers that were reached by Tony’s Open Chain programmes in 2024/25 (KPI 1.2) was higher than the number of farmers that delivered cocoa this season (KPI 1.1). For full definitions of the KPIs, see Interesting Appendices .
benefit from child labour monitoring and deforestation prevention. As the enabling
environment for progress expands, it speeds up progress overall. Accelerating change at the speed that we want to see it is only possible if the industry acts together. That’s why we are called Tony’s Open
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
• Climate, environment & productivity: Climate change and deforestation continue to threaten cocoa productivity and farmer livelihoods. We were hopeful when we saw the slight rise in estimated yield levels for this year. However, knowing that long-term investment in farm renovation is needed to prevent a return to declining yields in the coming years, we launched our updated productivity programme. The programme is aimed at boosting farm yields and climate resilience through targeted support and direct investments at the farm level. Alongside this work, we maintained our strong record on deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, with GPS-polygon mapping and deforestation risk analysis carried out for 100% of cocoa farms – 99.99% of Tony’s Open Chain cocoa was sourced verified deforestation-free. • Human rights: In 2024/25, partner cooperatives identified 3,448 cases of child labour in our supply chain, more than double the number of cases found last season. This was expected, given the significant increase in partner cooperatives we worked with, and shows the system is working. Based on analysis of our Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) data, we know that we can effectively resolve the majority of cases within 9 months. This year’s analysis showed that, among our longest-term partner cooperatives (those that have consistently implemented the 5 Sourcing Principles and CLMRS for 5 years or more), child labour prevalence rates have stayed at an average of 4%. At newer partner cooperatives, the average prevalence rate is 13%, which is still significantly below the industry average of 46.7% 3 .
• Governance & finances: Tony’s Open Chain has been scaling rapidly. This growth highlighted the need and desire to further strengthen our organisational design and governance in West Africa. In 2024/25, we focused on deepening our strategic integration across the region by initiating the process of establishing dedicated legal entities in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Both entities are on track to be operationally launched in the 2025/26 season. On the financial side, we achieved a positive net result of €384,367 in 2024/25 (compared with a loss of €580,383 in 2023/24). Over the past two-years, our net result has remained negative. Tony’s Open Chain does not seek to make a profit; we work on a transparent cost-sharing basis with all Mission Allies. A positive result will go towards building a risk reserve, which enables Tony’s Open Chain to absorb unforeseen costs in the future. 3. NORC at the University of Chicago. Assessing Child Labor in West African Cocoa Farming. NORC, 2020, p.70. Note: The NORC report is considered one of the leading sources for child labour estimates. It was published in 2020 using data from 2018/19. We are keen to obtain updated data reflecting current industry realities, as the figures may no longer reflect present conditions.
Contact us to find out more To join Tony’s Open Chain, or learn more about our work, email us via: join@tonysopenchain.com
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
AT A GLANCE: How we implemented the 5 Sourcing Principles together with partner cooperatives in 2024/25
Traceability
A higher price
The long term
Strong farmers
Quality & productivity
Implemented strong operational and social traceability across our supply chain with 100% GPS polygon-mapped farms at all partner cooperatives, 100% of beans tracked as they move through our supply chain and 33,426 (93.7%) of cocoa farmer households covered with a Child Labour Monitoring & Remediation System (CLMRS)
Developed an updated living income vision to enable more farmers to earn a living income. At our 3 longest-term partner cooperatives, 40.6% of farmers earned at or above the living income benchmark, a significant increase since last year.
Maintained 5-year Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with 11 partner cooperatives, with 5 of these in their second MoU or beyond.
Supported the strengthening of 19 partner cooperatives (15 in Côte d’Ivoire and 4 in Ghana) through targeted technical support and a cooperative management fee, enabling investments in infrastructure and innovations that drive business growth. Onboarded 3 new cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire who will begin delivering cocoa in the 2025/26 season, further strengthening our network.
Designed and implemented the Emergency Productivity Boost in Côte d’Ivoire, together with farmers, to establish and train 76 labour brigades and subsidise services for 1,664 farmers, thereby enabling farmer access to skilled labour that will enhance quality and productivity. Supported the strengthening of Rural Service Centres in Ghana, leading to the establishment, equipping and training of 60 community service groups, providing improved labour services to farmers.
Foundational investments - needed to achieve these results
Supported partner cooperatives to employ 221 community facilitators to implement CLMRS (up from 131 the previous year).
Paid a price that was between 7-10% higher than the farmgate price set by the governments in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. 4
Funded €350,722 in CLMRS start-up costs for the 8 new partner cooperatives that joined in the 2024/25 season, supporting them to set
Invested €1,234,755 in partner cooperatives via the cooperative management fee.
Paid €1,123,273 as an EPB to our 15 partner cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire.
up the foundations needed to enable structural change.
4. The higher price was made up of the Fairtrade Premium (for both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana) and Emergency Productivity Boost (for Côte d’Ivoire only).
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Key Performance Indicators This year, we updated our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) towards further strengthening the monitoring of our impact. Below is a snapshot of our results, but you can read the full overview of how we did, and the definitions of our KPIs here.
KPI
2023/24
2024/25
Total # of cocoa growing farmers that have delivered to Tony’s Open Chain in the cocoa season Total amount of cooperative management fees paid to partner cooperatives by Tony’s Open Chain Mission Allies for the season Total # of Tonys Open Chain Mission Allies Total # metric tons of cocoa sourced via Tony’s Open Chain % of cocoa beans sourced fully traceable from farmer to processor
32,133
20,296
€1,234,755
€815,904
22
20
26,843
17,690
100%
100%
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
2023/24
2024/25
KPI
20,257 (98%)
33,426 (93.7%)
# and % of cocoa growing households in Tony’s Open Chain’s supply chain who are covered by CLMRS # of child labour cases found at Tony’s Open Chain partner cooperatives with the CLMRS
1,544
3,448
1,718
813
# of child labour cases closed at Tony’s Open Chain partner cooperatives with the CLMRS in total within the season
4%
4%
% prevalence of child labour at: 1) Longest-term partner cooperatives
NA 5
13%
2) Newer partner cooperatives
20,296 (100%)
32,133 (100%)
Total # and % of farmers supplying to Tony’s Open Chain who receive premium payments above the farmgate price to enable a living income Total % of farmers earning at or above the living income benchmark across the partner cooperatives in scope 6
19.1% 7
40.6%
99.95%
99.99%
% of cocoa sourced deforestation free
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87 (101)
# of cases of active deforestation: a. Flagged within the reporting season (and cumulatively)
NA 5
85*
b. Ground-truthed within the reporting season
NA 5
2
c. Confirmed within the reporting season
Remediation efforts started in 2024/25
2 (100%)
# and % of cases of active deforestation for which remediation actions have been taken
5. We are reporting against these disaggregated categories for the first time this year, therefore disaggregation is not available for 2023/24. 6. This year, 3 of our longest-term partner cooperatives were in scope for the analysis. Read our Living Income Chapter for more information. 7. In 2024/25 we updated our living income analysis methodology, as described in the Living Income Chapter of this report. This means that the estimated 19.1% of farmers crossing the living income threshold in 2023/24 is not comparable with the 40.6% for 2024/25. * Out of the 87 farms, 36 were groundtruthed, while enhanced satellite imaging analysis was performed for another 49. These farms had been identified as likely constituting false positives, which was confirmed. 2 farmers were not visited this season because their alerts were reported towards the end of the season, when field verification was nearing completion. These farms will be prioritised for field verification in the second quarter of 2025/26; until then their deforestation status is still pending.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Everyone will have a chance to what the world offers. Assiêh N’Gah sou wa liké kloua kloua tobéh. ~
Adeba Konan
Translated from Baoulé, from the song Otobé Otobé, by Adeba Konan.
Want to listen to the song while you read? Click here!
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Before we dive into the details of this year, we’d like to share a little more about the cocoa farmers in the Tony’s Open Chain supply chain
The farmers who supply cocoa to Tony’s Open Chain are incredibly diverse.
In Côte d’Ivoire, they come from communities spanning Adzopé and Alépé in the East, to Bouaflé, Daloa, Zoukoujbeu and Duékoué in the West, and Soubré, Méagui, Guitry, Divo and Lakota in the South. In Ghana, they are spread across communities in Suhum, Ayensuano, Kukuom, Goaso, Asumura, and Kasapin.
Most farmers are between 47 and 53 years old and have families with 6 to 8 members.
Most of their farms are quite small, typically around 2.1 hectares in Côte d’Ivoire and 1.1 hectares in Ghana. That’s about the size of 2 to 3 standard sized football pitches. Our vision is a future where these cocoa farmers are enabled to earn at least a living income, where their children can go to school, learn and play, and where forests are protected. For some readers, it might be difficult to imagine what a farmer’s livelihood in cocoa looks like. We asked one of the farmers who delivered cocoa to Tony’s Open Chain in the 2024/25 season to share what a typical day in his life is like.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
A day in the life of THÉODORE KOFFI KOUAKOU
From left to right: Agnes Kouassi Nguessan, Yoann Koffi Konan, Théodore Koffi Kouakou, Ezechiel Koffi Kouassi, and Naomie Koffi Affoue Ayasouraley Photo by: Nuits Balnéaires
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My name is Théodore Koffi Kouakou. I am a member of ECOJAD, and today it has been 19 years since I joined the cooperative. I live with my wife, Agnes, my sons, Yoann and Ezechiel, who are 3 and 10, and my daughter, Naomie, who is 6. Every day starts early for me. After waking up, I wash myself, get dressed, take my machete and head to my cocoa farm. What I do each day depends on the season. This can be anything from pruning the cocoa trees to cleaning the farm, to harvesting and breaking the cocoa pods, or completing the fermentation process. My farm spans 4.63 hectares, so these activities take a lot of time. There is always something to do on the farm.
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Photo by: Nuits Balnéaires
At the moment, since it’s harvest season, I use my machete to cut the pods from the trees. Harvesting typically takes me 2 to 3 days with support from some workers, but more than 5 days when I do it alone. Then it takes another day to gather all the pods and break them. Once harvested, I break open the cocoa pods to get the beans out and begin the bean fermentation process. Once that process is done, I bring the beans back to my yard in the village to dry. Drying can take up to one week.
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Photos by: Nuits Balnéaires
Once the cocoa is dry enough, I call the section delegate of the cooperative 8 who brings me the bags needed to pack the cocoa and takes them to the warehouse. At the warehouse, the delegate weighs the cocoa and pays me in cash or gives me a promissory note, if the payment will be made later. There are a lot of advantages to being a member of the cooperative, for example, access to premiums, loans, chemicals and fertilisers which you wouldn’t have if you weren’t a member. Thanks to my membership with the cooperative, I was able to build my house and equip it with electricity, light and a TV. The villagers come to watch TV in my yard. It makes me feel very proud and committed to work with ECOJAD. The biggest challenge remains the consignment system 9 : sometimes we have to wait a long time before getting paid for the cocoa we sell to the cooperative. I’ve been waiting for payment for 9 full bags of cocoa for more than 2 months. 8. The delegate of a cooperative is responsible for weighing the cocoa and handling the payment. 9. A consignment sale of beans means that the farmer does not get paid in cash immediately, but has to wait until the beans are sold onwards before receiving payment.
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Photos by: Nuits Balnéaires
At the end of a day’s work on the farm, when I feel proud of my accomplishments, it strengthens my motivation to continue doing what I do. I express my gratitude to God by sharing delicious food with my family. My favourite dish is yam foutou with djoumblé sauce or palm nut sauce. And my favourite song? Adeba Konan – Otobé Otobé . I love it most, because it carries the message that everyone has their own chance in life.
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Photo by: Nuits Balnéaires
HOW WE AIM TO END EXPLOITATION IN COCOA, TOGETHER
Whilst the cocoa industry is changing, the key issues in cocoa remain the same – and we are running out of time. Looking at the cocoa industry this past season, we see that, whilst conditions have changed, the realities for farmers remain largely the same. As noted in the 2025 Cocoa Barometer, the cocoa industry has seen massive leaps forward in terms of regulatory developments, sector-wide collaboration and visibility of rightsholders, but the problems we are trying to solve – poverty, child labour and deforestation – have not changed. 10 With the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and Forced Labour Regulation (FLR), companies will be required to implement full traceability and greater levels of due diligence across their supply chains, promising greater transparency for the sector in the near future. With it comes the hope that companies will act on the issues they find.
At the same time, child labour remains widespread 11 , deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana persists at alarming rates 12 , and, despite the welcome rise in farmgate prices in both countries 13 , most cocoa farmers still struggle to earn a living income. Decades of underpayment have left farmers unable to invest in their farms, contributing to lower yields and the spread of pests and diseases. These, in turn, continue to increase cocoa farmers’ vulnerability amid the growing threats of climate change. With 2030 now just 5 years away, the world is significantly off track in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN’s 2025 Progress Report shows that only 18% of SDGs are currently on track, with poverty-related goals even regressing. 14
10. Fountain, Antonie C., and Friedel Huetz-Adams. 2025 Cocoa Barometer. VOICE Network, Oct. 2025, pp. 8, 13. 11. International Cocoa Initiative. Annual Report 2024. ICI Cocoa Initiative, 2024. 12. See Peprah, Dennis. “Ghana Losses 120,000 Hectares of Forest Cover Annually — GloMeF.” Ghana News Agency, 22 Mar. 2025, and Forest Trends. “Côte d’Ivoire.” Forest Trends, 2025.
13. International Cocoa Initiative. Annual Report 2024. ICI, 2024. 14. United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
How can we shift the cocoa industry? This season, we took time to reflect: where are we seeing signs of progress – big or small – and where must we push harder to accelerate change? What do we need to do – and what does the industry need to do – to drive meaningful change? At the most fundamental level, we believe that to make meaningful progress, responsible purchasing practices – which we embody through the 5 Sourcing Principles – must be adopted across the entire cocoa supply chain and across all beans sourced. Not just by us and our Mission Allies (the companies that have committed some or all of their cocoa to be sourced via Tony’s Open Chain), but all cocoa-sourcing companies. These principles are the heart of our strategy and should form the baseline for how we act as an industry: traceability, paying a higher price, the long term, supporting strong farmers, and improving quality and productivity. Unless these principles are fully integrated, covering every partner cooperative and every cocoa farmer, we risk creating isolated and temporary improvements rather than a systemic shift. How can we shift the industry…faster? The short answer is: together. Increasing the speed and scale at which we can drive tangible change on the ground requires increasing the volume of cocoa sourced according to the 5 Sourcing Principles. Why? Because higher cocoa volumes translate into deeper investment in farmers’ livelihoods and stronger partner cooperative relationships. They also ensure a wider reach: more cocoa-growing families and farms covered by the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) and deforestation prevention, and the ability to build an enabling environment, ensuring faster progress on the ground. And the only way to do so as an industry is together. That’s why we are called Tony’s Open Chain: we were created to enable collective action together with other cocoa-sourcing companies. We know we don’t have all the answers, and we’re always open to learning from peers, their insights, and best practices across the industry. Anyone can join the commitment to source their cocoa in accordance with the 5 Sourcing Principles.
But we are operating in an increasingly challenging environment: climate change is harming cocoa yields in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana and threatening farmer livelihoods just when investment is most needed. Cocoa scarcity has driven prices higher, and cocoa-sourcing companies, including our Mission Allies, are facing real financial pressure and supply chain uncertainty. Consumers, meanwhile, are facing higher chocolate prices. While it’s understandable that companies may want to tread cautiously in uncertain conditions, these challenges are not a reason to pause our efforts. On the contrary, now is the time to act – by working together, adapting and investing in solutions, we can help secure the future of cocoa and support those most affected.
A higher price
Strong farmers
Traceability
The long term
Quality & productivity
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
The 5 Sourcing Principles: A farmer-first approach prioritising human rights and environmental protection in cocoa sourcing
Implemented through our procurement practices and programmes, the 5 Sourcing Principles aim to address and reverse decades of institutionalised inequalities in cocoa, establishing more equal business relationships with partner cooperatives in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
Traceability
Establishing long-term commitments to work together with cocoa farmers and partner cooperatives to address challenges and plan for the future. The long term
Knowing who the farmers we source cocoa 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 and driving meaningful change.
All of the 5 Sourcing Principles need to be applied to offer a concrete solution to end structural poverty at the beginning of the supply chain.
A higher price
Supporting cocoa farmers in achieving a living income and sustainable farming requires paying higher prices to farmers. This price is anchored in a Living Income Reference Price and can go beyond it, such as via an additional productivity premium paid in 2024/25.
Collaborating with partner cooperatives to improve professionalised farming practices and implement strong farming businesses. Collective action among cocoa farmers helps address and transform inequalities in the cocoa sector. Strong farmers
Investing in agricultural knowledge and skills, as well as organising labour brigades via partner cooperatives enhances cocoa quality and yields, boosting farmer income and preventing deforestation. Quality & productivity
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
THE (BUSINESS) CASE FOR TONY'S OPEN CHAIN
When we engage with companies, one of the most common questions we get is about the business case for joining Tony’s Open Chain. The ethical reasons for joining are clear – but how does the approach deliver financial value? How can they convince their numbers-driven teams that sourcing through this approach is not just the moral, but also the financially smart decision in the long term? The answer: there is indeed a compelling business case for becoming a Mission Ally!
Ethical We put people and the environment at the heart of our impact model—and we have the results to prove that it has a real impact on farmers, their families, and their farms.
Ethical
Operational
We strengthen operational resilience by offering flexible sourcing, long-term supply agreements, and full traceability across operational, social and environmental dimensions. Operational
Financial
Financial We enable smarter spending: by pooling Mission Allies’ programme fees to tackle root causes, companies can cut costs, reduce duplication, and unlock long-term value across people, planet, and profit.
Tony’s Open Chain demonstrates that ethical sourcing can drive both impact and commercial viability. In a nutshell
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Operational
Ethical
Tony’s Open Chain strengthens operational resilience by offering flexible sourcing, long-term supply agreements and full traceability across operational, social and environmental dimensions. • Flexible sourcing, fixed impact. Tony’s Open Chain empowers Mission Allies to collaborate with a range of processing and sourcing partners. These partners source cocoa beans from our partner cooperatives. Mission Allies have the flexibility to choose and switch between supply chain partners for their processing and sourcing while ensuring long-term impact with Tony’s Open Chain partner cooperatives. This ensures long- term impact for farmers, regardless of how the supply chain evolves. • Supply security. By embedding long-term commitments into our sourcing model, Tony’s Open Chain ensures reliable access to high-quality cocoa through long-term partnerships with trusted partner cooperatives. Mission Allies can strengthen supply security by leveraging this network of cooperatives, which have a track record of consistently delivering the required volumes (thereby providing financial, as well as operational security). • Multi-level traceability. Tony’s Open Chain offers comprehensive traceability across the supply chain; at the operational level via our BeanTracker, at the social level via the CLMRS and at the environmental level via deforestation risk monitoring. We use the data from each level of traceability to proactively drive impact on the ground: to enable remediation of child labour and deforestation cases, and inform long-term prevention strategies.
Tony’s Open Chain puts people and the environment at the heart of its impact model – and we have the results to prove that it has a real impact. • All farmers, rather than some. Our approach is inclusive and comprehensive: we source all our cocoa, rather than just some of it, via ethical procurement practices (the 5 Sourcing Principles). This means, for example, that all farming households are covered by the CLMRS and that all farmers who deliver cocoa to our Mission Allies receive premiums. • Local ownership. We believe cocoa farmers should shape their own future. That’s why our model is farmer- and cooperative-centric. Partner cooperatives own the implementation of the 5 Sourcing Principles (and the data that results from them), ensuring solutions are locally rooted and led by the people most directly affected. • Depth over breadth. Tony’s Open Chain uses a closed, fully demand-driven impact model. This means we onboard new partner cooperatives when there is sufficient long-term demand for cocoa from Mission Allies. With this, we strive to achieve deep impact, rather than impact thinly spread across many. • Proven impact model. With child labour prevalence averaging 3.9% across long-term partner cooperatives, and 99.95 - 100% of our cocoa sourced deforestation-free since 2019, these results prove our model delivers on the impact promised.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Child labour in focus Economies of scale in child labour remediation
Financial
• Pooling resources for the CLMRS across Mission Allies is significantly more cost-effective than individual company efforts. It reduces duplication and eases the burden on farmers and partner cooperatives. • Our data from the first half of the 2024/25 season shows average costs ranging from €40 to €253 in Côte d’Ivoire and €82 to €196 in Ghana. Through Tony’s Open Chain, costs tend to fall at the lower end of these ranges, demonstrating the efficiency gained through economies of scale and a long- term strategic approach. • This is largely due to early detection enabled by frequent monitoring. Most interventions involve younger children, for whom support such as birth certificates, school kits, and bicycles, combined with access to primary education, is relatively low-cost. In contrast, older children often require vocational training, which sits at the higher end of the cost spectrum. • Early identification not only reduces costs and the need for complex remediation but also prevents long-term harm. It keeps children in education, protects their rights and strengthens family and community resilience. Timely intervention maximises successful outcomes and helps families before dependency on child labour income deepens. Fixing symptoms is expensive • Preventing child labour by creating an enabling environment costs far less than ongoing remediation. Structural interventions, such as investing in schools and education infrastructure, address root causes, break cycles of poverty, and create lasting opportunities for children and families. • Tackling child labour case by case is reactive and costly. Community development delivers systemic change. For example, refurbishing a school and canteen costs €9,600 to €75,000, depending on the scope. Over 5 years, this can save €90,000 to €160,000 in remediation costs, with an average return on investment (ROI) of 120% in Côte d’Ivoire and 280% in Ghana. • Child labour often stems from a lack of access to education and meals. Addressing these barriers helps prevent the problem before it starts. Upfront infrastructure investment reduces long-term costs and delivers deeper, sustained impact for cocoa communities and the cocoa supply chain. 17
Tony’s Open Chain enables smarter spending by pooling programme fees to tackle root causes. Mission Allies are better off than trying to make impact by themselves: they can tap into economies of scale, eliminate duplication, und unlock long-term value across people, planet and profit. Focus on cocoa productivity. Investing in farmer productivity is fundamental to securing the long-term success of the cocoa industry. By supporting farm and farmer resilience through targeted infrastructure, training and innovation, we enable more effective farming practices that will drive higher yields and improved crop quality. These interventions (such as labour brigades, farm renovation and direct farm investments) will not only boost short- and medium-term productivity, but also build a resilient farming future with higher household incomes. 15 Risk mitigation. By improving farm resilience and productivity, Tony’s Open Chain reduces exposure to supply shocks caused by climate change or crop disease. This also helps enable a more predictable supply base for all Mission Allies. Competitiveness. Studies show that brands with strong ethics and sustainability practices perform better, even in volatile markets. A Harvard Business Review study involving over 500 brands and 350,000 U.S. consumers, found that highly trusted companies outperform others by up to 400% in market value, with sustainability identified as a key driver of trust, especially among younger generations who are gaining purchasing power. 16
15. According to a study carried out in 2024, Tony’s Open Chain’s top-performing partner cooperative saw only an 11.4% decline in average yields, compared with the 25% average decline in cocoa production in Côte d’Ivoire. Further data will be gathered to monitor progress over coming seasons. See: Bellini Motovska, N., Gonzalez Gaviola, A., Koster, T., & Waarts, Y. (2024). High-Level analysis of recent and current yield in the West African cocoa sector: Trends, possible causes and recommendations for interventions. Wageningen Economic Research, Report 2024-135. P 21-22. 16. Reichheld, Ashley, John Peto, and Cory Ritthaler. “Research: Consumers’ Sustainability Demands Are Rising .” Harvard Business Review, 18 Sept. 2023. Also see: Mingazova, Diliara, Alshaimaa Bahgat Alanadoly, and Suha Fouad Salem. “ Ethics, Brands and Sustainable Consumption.” Brands, Branding, and Consumerism, Springer, 11 Mar. 2025, pp. 345–376. 17. These activities are currently largely funded by Tony’s Chocolonely via the Chocolonely Foundation.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
Adapting our model to maximise efficiency We have seen our approach deliver meaningful progress in some areas, like child labour 18 , while others, like enabling farmers to earn a living income or increasing productivity, remain industry-wide challenges. As part of our adaptive learning approach, we must confront the biggest issues in cocoa, along with the threats they pose to farmers’ livelihoods. We have seen an increase in the estimated number of cocoa farmers earning a living income at our 3 longest-term partner cooperatives between this season and last season (up from 19.1% 19 to 40.6%). Recent data also shows a slight increase in cocoa yields in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. 20 Overall yields, however, still remain below what is needed to support the majority of cocoa farmers to earn a living income and long- term threats of decline as the result of ageing trees and crop disease means it is essential to invest in farms now. 21 This is why we reviewed and refined our strategies on living income and productivity this season: tying them closer together to accelerate change and deepen our impact where it matters most. As part of our efforts to continue learning, we were also part of a double materiality assessment (DMA) carried out by our founding Mission Ally, Tony’s Chocolonely, this year. The DMA covered Tony’s Chocolonely’s whole value chain, including Tony’s Open Chain. A DMA evaluates sustainability issues from 2 distinct perspectives: impact materiality, which assesses how a company’s operations, products or services affect the environment and society (inside-out), and financial materiality, which assesses how sustainability-related issues, such as climate change, can impact the company’s financial performance (outside-in). 22
Impact materiality Company impact on the environment and society
Double Materiality
Environment and society
Company
Financial materiality
Impact of the environment and society on the company
Visual adapted from Datylon, Understanding Double Materiality with Impactful Charts, February 2025
The DMA identified the following topics as material 23 within the cocoa supply chain, confirming that we have been focusing our efforts on the right issues, whilst also drawing our attention to other topics that require further attention:
Impact materiality Financial materiality X X X X X X X X X X X X
Topic
Climate change Biodiversity and ecosystems Child and forced labour
Working conditions in the value chain Farmer livelihoods & communities Business conduct
18. Read about our results in our Human Rights chapter. 19. Note that we updated our living income analysis model this year, towards a more conservative approach. As a result, the 19.1% and 40.6% figures are not directly comparable. 20. Read about this in our Environment, Climate and Productivity Chapter.
21. A 2024 Fairtrade study noted that various factors including inflation, climate change, and labour shortages have limited the positive effects expected from higher prices. For example, the study found that average farm yield increased slightly between 2020 and 2024, from 625 to 650 kilogrammes per hectare. However, average farm size and cocoa growing area decreased at the same time, possibly indicating that farm measurements are more accurate thanks to geolocation mapping, and yield improvements should be interpreted with caution. The study also found that cocoa production volumes per household decreased by 29 percent between 2020 and 2024 (from 2,743 kg to 1,952), and that average production costs increased by 16 percent, from €179 per hectare in 2020 to €207 per hectare in 2024. See Fairtrade International. “More Cocoa Farmers Earning Closer to Living Incomes in Côte d’Ivoire. ” 22. EFRAG. IG 1: Materiality Assessment. European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, 2023. 23. A sustainability matter is material from: (a) ‘an impact perspective when it pertains to the undertaking’s material actual or potential, positive or negative impacts on people or the environment over the short-, medium- and long-term. Impacts include those connected with the undertaking’s own operations and the upstream and downstream value chain, including through its products EFRAG IG 1: Materiality Assessment Implementation Guidance May 2024 Page 11 of 55 and services, as well as through its business relationships’ (ESRS 1 paragraph 43). EFRAG. IG 1: Materiality Assessment. European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, 2023.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
OVERVIEW OF MATERIAL TOPICS
HOW DO WE ADDRESS THIS?
HOW DO WE ADDRESS THIS? Read about our approach in our Living income chapter.
MATERIAL TOPIC
MATERIAL TOPIC
OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
Climate change
Cocoa farming contributes to climate change through deforestation: when a tree is cut down, the carbon it stores is released into the atmosphere. 24 Unsustainable land use, such as converting forests to agriculture or urban areas, also increases emissions through fertilizer use and altered ecosystems. Rapid rates of deforestation continue to be a key issue in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, driven by structural poverty, ageing trees, and a lack of means to invest in the refurbishment of farms. In 2024, deforestation in both countries contributed significantly to CO₂ emissions (with Côte d’Ivoire at 78.1 million metric tons and Ghana at 47 million metric tons). 25 The expansion of cultivated cocoa areas over recent decades via deforestation has led to major biodiversity loss and the degradation or disruption of vital ecosystems. Pesticide use also negatively impacts biodiversity and can lead to soil impoverishment when used without sufficient information for farmers. 26 An estimated 1.56 million children are engaged in cocoa-related child labour, and of those, 1.48 million are estimated to be doing hazardous work like handling sharp tools or chemicals. 27 Structural poverty and low cocoa prices force families to rely on child labour. While forced labour has never been identified in Tony’s Open Chain’s supply chain, it is a risk, particularly for migrants from neighbouring countries and adults in debt. 28
Farmer livelihoods and communities
In Côte d’Ivoire, the estimated living income is 298,983 Ivorian CFA Francs per month, and in Ghana, it is 2,324 Ghanaian Cedis per month. 29 Many cocoa farmers are not paid enough for their cocoa and other crops and, therefore, do not achieve these income levels, resulting in widespread poverty. A recent Fairtrade study estimated that 82% of surveyed cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana did not earn a living income. 30 There is a risk of poor labour standards, lack of contracts and poor health and safety standards across the wider cocoa value chain. This includes those involved in the processing, transporting, warehousing and shipping of cocoa, as well as sub-contracted workers hired to perform other roles in the facilities that carry out these activities. Risk: the potential for corruption – such as bribery, kickbacks, or manipulation of procurement and certification processes – can lead to legal sanctions, loss of operating licenses and exclusion from ethical supply chains.
Read about our approach in our Climate change, environment and deforestation chapter .
Working conditions in the value chain
Read about our approach in our Human rights chapter.
Biodiversity & ecosystems
Business conduct
Read about our work on governance in our Governance & Finance chapter .
Child labour and forced labour
Read about our approach in our Human rights chapter.
With these insights, we remain committed to learning how and where we can strengthen our programmes towards continuing to raise the bar for cocoa farmers.
28. Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains Initiative. Feasibility study for a cross-company grievance mechanism in the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire, p45, November 2024. 29. Anker, Richard; Anker, Martha. “Living Income Benchmark”, June 2022 Update Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana 30. Motovska, Nina Bellini; Gaviola, Agustin Gonzalez; Koster, Tinka; Waarts, Yuca, “High-Level analysis of recent and current yield in the West African cocoa sector.” Wageningen Economic Research, 2024, p. 15.
24. Live to Plant, “The Effects of Deforestation on Global Carbon Emissions”, 2023. 25. Global Forest Watch, Dashboard Ghana and Dashboard Côte d’Ivoire . 26. Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains Initiative. Feasibility study for a cross-company grievance mechanism in the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire, November 2024. 27. NORC at the University of Chicago. Assessing Child Labor in West African Cocoa Farming. NORC, 2020.
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Ending exploitation in cocoa together
Living income
Climate, environment & productivity
Human rights
Governance & finances
Interesting appendices
Scaling for change
Introduction
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