Annual loss for fast-growing Tony’s Chocolonely

Tony’s Chocolonely grew rapidly again last year. Tony’s bars are now also being sold on the shelves in Australia and New Zealand. But the company recorded a net loss in 2023 due to increased costs and investments. The Dutch chocolate brand expects to be profitable again this year or next year.

Chief Financial Officer Jan Huij said Tony’s activist mission is paramount, but the intention is for the company to make a profit to demonstrate that a company like Tony’s can be profitable. The shareholders have given Tony’s the space to spend several years on this. “But it shouldn’t last too long either.”

The company’s turnover increased by 23 percent to more than 150 million euros in the past fiscal year, which ran until the end of September. This was mainly due to strong growth in the number of bars sold outside the Netherlands. A price increase of an average of 10 percent on the home market also helped.

But Tony’s itself also had to deal with higher costs, which the company did not want to fully pass on to consumers. The bottom line was a net loss of 2.7 million euros. A year earlier, the company posted figures which were in the black, and not in the red, although the profit was only a few tens of thousands of euros. The year earlier, Tony’s incurred a loss of 4.7 million euros.

The company has also made many investments, for example in the growth of Tony’s Open Chain. This is an initiative to purchase cocoa collectively with other companies so that farmers receive better pay.

Money was also invested in expanding the range with Lil’ Bits. In this way, Tony’s believes it can expand its sales in countries where the chocolate market relies less on bars and more on small bite-sized snacks. Tony’s products are now sold in more than 60 countries.

Due to disappointing harvests, cocoa prices have risen sharply recently. Huij acknowledges that this will also affect Tony’s. But the company has not yet decided whether this means that Tony’s prices will soon face further increases.

Since its founding in 2005, Tony’s has been trying to prove that it is possible to make chocolate without involving child labor, illegal labor or exploitation anywhere in the production chain. According to Tony’s own figures, the latter has still not been completely achieved. Tony’s said that illegal child labor accounted for 4.4 percent at the farming companies which Tony’s has worked with for more than three years.

That is far below the industry average, which the Dutch company claims to be 46.7 percent.