dependencies and prevent them from taking advantage of higher prices elsewhere. There is a clear power imbalance between the various actors in the chain. In the current system most risks (on volume, price, delivery) are covered for the buyer, but farmers find themselves often waiting for a selling contract resulting in them accepting hunger prices. This means that long-term contracts need to be asymmetrical in nature, providing farmers more rights, while putting more responsibilities on the shoulders of the purchasing companies. Concretely, an asymmetric contract needs to commit buyers to buy a minimum tonnage of cocoa at an agreed-on price, but the farmer needs to be free to sell to a different buyer if they can get better conditions. Price renegotiation clauses should be part of such long-term asymmetric contracts, to allow farmers to take into account fluctuations of the prices of raw materials and cost of living.” 2 3. Financial investment via the cooperative management fee Partner cooperatives play a central role in the Sourcing Principles implementation on the ground. Specifically, they are responsible for: • Enabling a member-led, community-centred approach to implementing our shared programmes • Implementing and operating BeanTracker, our proprietary software for tracking and tracing beans from farm to processor • Implementing and operating our approach to the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) • Ensuring premium payments are distributed to cocoa farmers • Implementing activities related to the productivity programme, including farmer coaching Building out these systems requires ongoing technical and financial investment beyond the first couple of months of onboarding. In addition to funding for the initial start-up costs required to set up BeanTracker and the CLMRS, Tony’s Open Chain Mission Allies pay a cooperative management fee (defined as an amount per metric ton of cocoa) to fund further development of the partner cooperatives’ business models and day-to-day operationalisation of programmes. In total, Tony’s Open Chain has invested more than €3.9 million in cooperative management fees between its founding in 2019 and the end of the 2024/25 cocoa season 3 . This fee is a vital investment in the cooperative business model, helping cover operational costs and enabling long-term development. Such investments are becoming increasingly important in the context of rising administrative costs under emerging due diligence legislation. In our view, companies should take financial responsibility for implementing due diligence requirements, rather than passing the burden down the supply chain.
2 VOICE Network, Good Purchasing Practices: a cocoa barometer consultation paper, p. 15-16 3 Tony’s Open Chain (2026), Tony’s Open Chain Impact Report 2024/25, p. 26
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