As we work closely with partner cooperatives and scale the number of our partnerships, we inevitably face challenges and sometimes make mistakes. We learn and grow together, which is why it’s so important to reflect jointly with partner cooperatives. We proactively solicit and engage with feedback, such as through annual and quarterly meetings, and remain receptive to input we receive. This collaborative approach is central to how we operate and improve. As we scale Tony’s Open Chain, naturally, we encounter challenges and areas for improvement. It’s essential that we learn from these experiences and continue to professionalise our organisational setup and ways of working. One example is how we select new partner cooperatives to join us on the journey to end exploitation in cocoa. Following the partner cooperative selection process for the 2024/25 season, we received concerns from both selected and non-selected partners about how the process was run. While we are comfortable with the outcomes and the commitment of new partner cooperatives, we recognise the need for improvement. In conjunction with Tony’s Chocolonely’s Mission Guardians, we appointed a third party to conduct an independent review. This review provided valuable recommendations on how to improve communication and transparency around selection criteria and decision-making. We have already taken many of these learnings on board, including, but not limited to, additional checks and balances on selection criteria, harmonised decision-making protocols and pre- agreed timeframes for stakeholder updates, and applied them to the selection process for the 2025/26 season. These improvements have strengthened the rigour, governance, and checks and balances of this critical process as we continue to scale. We also shared these insights with partner cooperatives, creating a strong common ground for further scaling, and applied it to other critical processes, like our cooperative evaluation mentioned above. Lessons learned from our partnerships with cooperatives this year
In line with the scaling of our current and future operations, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, we have introduced a nationwide regional assistance model that allows our team to provide closer, more consistent support to partner cooperatives, regardless of their geographic location. This operational shift further strengthens our ability to scale Tony’s Open Chain effectively in partnership with cooperatives.
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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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