Amsterdam-based Tony’s Chocolonely, a manufacturer of chocolates at retail prices, announced on Friday, June 16, that it has secured €20M in a fresh round of funding.
The investment came from the company’s existing investors. As part of the deal, a few current shareholders will sell a tiny portion of their investment.
After the investment round is completed, the updated shareholding percentages will be as listed below:
Even though Belgium-based Verlinvest owned the majority of the voting shares before this investment, the deal must still be approved by the Netherlands’ Competition Authority since Verlinvest increased its shareholding.
Jam Jar is an investment company run by the former founders of London-based Innocent Drinks. Genuine Chocolate is the holding company of former CEO Henk Jan Beltman.
Capital utilisation
According to Tony’s Chocolonely, the proceeds will be used to fund its growth in multiple markets and the growth of Tony’s Open Chain, its B2B ethical bean sourcing company.
More bars and beans sold equals more beans purchased at a living wage-price, resulting in a greater beneficial influence on the lives of cocoa farmers.
Douglas Lamont, Chief Chocolonely at Tony’s Chocolonely, says, “This investment will help us accelerate our progress towards our mission of ending exploitation in the cocoa industry.
“The funding will be used to support the rapid global growth we are delivering in both Tony’s Chocolonely, our chocolate business, and Tony’s Open Chain, our global business-to-business ethical bean trading company.”
“I am delighted that all the funding was raised from within our existing shareholder base, who we know are all committed to supporting our long-term mission.”
“With this new investment, with our governance structure and with our recently introduced Mission Lock we will all remain fully focused and committed to delivering on our mission to end exploitation in the cocoa industry,” adds Lamont.
About Tony’s Chocolonely
Tony’s Chocolonely is a chocolate-making impact company. Its aim is to put a stop to chocolate industry exploitation, not only for their own chocolate but for all chocolate across the world.
After discovering that the world’s leading chocolate makers were importing cocoa from plantations that exploited child labour and modern slavery, three journalists from the Dutch TV show ‘Keuringsdienst van Waarde’ created the firm in 2005.
Since then, Tony’s Chocolonely has been working towards bringing attention to and ending inequity in the chocolate industry.
The company does that by establishing direct, long-term connections with cocoa farmers in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, paying them more and collaborating with them to address the root causes of modern slavery and child labour.
In order to eliminate child labour and modern slavery from the cocoa business, the Dutch company intends to motivate the sector as a whole to set prices for all cocoa that are equal to living incomes. They believe that being a better business should be the norm, not the exception.
Tony’s Chocolonely claims to be one of the fastest-growing chocolate brands in the world with its expansion in the UK, the US, Germany, and many other markets in addition to its native market in the Netherlands.
A number of major retail and consumer brands, including Albert Heijn, Aldi, Ben & Jerrys, and Huel, now source their cocoa through Tony’s Open Chain,
Tony’s Open Chain enables other businesses sourcing cocoa to buy their cocoa while applying Tony’s five sourcing principles.
Tony’s Chocolonely is a B-Corp and Fairtrade-certified.
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