TextBook: Principles of Marketing for a Ditigal Age - Tracey L. Tuten

Case Study: Tony's Chocolonely's Channel of Distribution

Tony's Chocolonely is a Dutch-based, certified B-corp company that manufactures and distributes chocolate bars. The company's mission is ending child slavery. The company earns more than $55 million in annual revenues and has become the leading chocolate brand in the Netherlands. Fans pay as much as 30% more for a Tony's Chocolonely bar compared to brands of similar quality. It's value proposition is high quality chocolate that is 100% slave-free. Its commitment to SDGs is probably somewhat responsible for Tony's success, but its use of Industry 4.0 technologies throughout its supply chain makes its commitment to slave-free cocoa possible.

Figure 8.10 illustrates the basic stages in Tony's supply chain, which is an indirect channel. Tony's uses blockchain, AI, and predictive modelling technologies to manage its long and complex channel. The company partnered with MarTech provider, ChainPoint, to build a custom platform for its blockchain protocol, which it calls the BeanTracker. The result is a fully transparent "bean to bar" supply chain, recording the origin and flow of the cocoa beans and ultimately the chocolate bars. Tony's Chocolonely partnered with Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service for AI and predictive modelling services to analyse order and inventory levels, assess trends, forecast need for raw materials, and estimate sales trends.

For Discussion

1. How important is Tony's channel strategy to its success as a brand?
2. Why does Tony's use an indirect channel when a direct channel might provide more control over the supply chain?
3. Why are Industry 4.0 technologies critical to Tony's ability to meet its mission?