Dutch ethical chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely saw a substantial increase in turnover over the past financial year. Net profit, however, remained below target.
Aided by corona
Over the past financial year, which ended on 30 September, Tony’s Chocolonely achieved a turnover of 88.4 million euros, an increase of almost 27 per cent. According to chief executive Henk Jan Beltman, the corona crisis helped the company a little, “it’s a time when people buy more delicacies”. In the Netherlands, the turnover grew by 14 per cent to 53.5 million euros, reports Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. Despite this increase, the company saw its market share decline to 16 per cent. Last year the company counted for almost 19 per cent of the Dutch market.
Net profit amounted to 261,300 euro, writes Dutch news channel RTL Nieuws. Although this is better than a year ago, it is still well below the target of 3.5 million euros.
The company was founded in 2005 with the mission to market hundred per cent slavery-free chocolate. Nevertheless, according to several reports such as the Cacao Barometer, Tony’s Chocolonely still pays the cocoa farmers too little. “With Max Havelaar, we have established what a liveable income is. That is still pure poverty. We are far from perfect, but nobody in the market pays more for a kilo of cocoa than we do”, Beltman responds to the criticism.
