systematically and successfully addressed, even across a large and growing supply chain. As an industry, we should take this insight to heart and act accordingly. Our approach to the CLMRS The CLMRS, initiated by the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour 85 , and later adapted for the cocoa industry by the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) 86 and Nestlé, is a critical tool for identifying cases of child labour and providing remediation, with the goal of aligning with national systems for a comprehensive approach to child protection. Tony’s Open Chain’s CLMRS has several key factors that differentiate it from many other CLMRS implementations: 1. Comprehensive supply chain coverage: We aim to cover 100% of cocoa farmer households delivering to Tony’s Open Chain, whilst other CLMRS often only cover communities that are in scope for specific sustainability programmes. This year, we achieved coverage of 93.7%, per our updated KPI definition, which considers a household covered if it has been visited at least once in the season via the CLMRS. Previously, we measured participation in the CLMRS in terms of households in the system (for which we reached 99.9% this year). 2. Annual household visits and frequent follow-up visits for identified cases of child labour: Whilst the industry norm, as outlined in the International Cocoa Initiative’s (ICI) criteria for the CLMRS, is 1 visit every 24 months, we ensure that every household in our supply chain is visited every year. 87 Facilitators conduct follow-up visits at 3 and 6 months following case identification to assess remediation effectiveness. 3. Partner cooperatives’ ownership of the CLMRS: Partner cooperatives have ownership over the implementation of the CLMRS and their data, with Tony’s Open Chain funding its implementation through the cooperative management fee. Partner cooperatives recruit Community Facilitators (who are responsible for work on the ground), with a focus on selecting people who are rooted in the local farming communities, with an age and gender balance. This means that families are more receptive to their visits and are more likely to open up and respond to follow-up activities. By comparison, CLMRS implemented by other companies are
often owned and managed by external entities such as cocoa traders, with part-time staff or trader-recruited teams that lack a connection to or trust from communities. 4. A shared responsibility approach to remediation: Tony’s Open Chain, partner cooperatives and the affected child’s parents or caregivers all take responsibility for a part of the remediation plan, making it more likely to succeed, as everyone is invested. 5. Awareness-raising activities & emphasis on building an enabling environment for systemic change: A CLMRS is a mechanism for monitoring and remediating child labour cases, but it does not address the root causes of child labour. Tony’s Open Chain’s approach to the CLMRS has high success rates because it works within a broader programme that also includes awareness-raising activities and a focus on building an enabling environment where cocoa-growing families and communities no longer need to resort to child labour.
KPI 2.1a
Total # of cocoa growing households in Tony’s Open Chain’s supply chain who are covered by the CLMRS
33,426
20,257
18,747
14,643
2022/23
2023/24
2021/22
2024/25
85. International Labour Organization. The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). Accessed 27 Oct. 2025. 86. International Cocoa Initiative. ICI Cocoa Initiative. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025. 87. International Cocoa Initiative. Core Criteria for Effective Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems. ICI, 2020, p. 4.
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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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