Commons For Cocoa

* Master's Thesis: Commons For Cocoa. A case study of Tony’s Open Chain’s contribution to making the chocolate industry more sustainable. By Hannelore STANDAERT. Submitted for the Degree of Sustainability Management, 2021-2022. KU Leuven, FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS - CAMPUS BRU.

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"* How does Tony’s Open Chain, as a commons initiative, contribute to making the chocolate industry more sustainable?

Abstract

"The chocolate industry is beset by an unequally divided supply chain with extreme poverty, other human rights violations, and environmental challenges. Multiple initiatives have been established to address these challenges, however, the industry is still failing to progress towards sustainable development. The use of collective entrepreneurship could be an opportunity to reach a real transition. One of the influential economic theories that explores this approach is the commons theory, of which open-source software is a subset. A prominent example is the open-source initiative ‘Tony’s Open Chain’ of the Dutch confectionery company Tony’s Chocolonely. The initiative was established to create a new norm in the chocolate industry by encouraging collaboration through sharing full details of Tony’s Chocolonely’s supply chain with other chocolate producers and retailers. This unique case formed the basis of this study that aimed at investigating how Tony’s Open Chain, as a commons initiative, contributes to making the chocolate industry more sustainable. For this research 15 in-depth interviews with both stakeholders of Tony’s Chocolonely as well as non-stakeholders with knowledge on the commons were conducted. The study showed that Tony’s Open Chain contributes to addressing the challenges in various ways. Using different tools, the initiative empowers cocoa farmers, detects illegal child labor, and tracks cocoa beans. The initiative also tries to prevent deforestation on farms using GPS polygon maps, thus attempts to cover the aspects of environmental justice. And by both letting companies join Tony’s Open Chain as mission allies and sharing principles and information, the approach allows for mutual learning and demonstrates the feasibility of collaboration. In any case, there is still room for improvement. To really make a tangible difference and have an impact, more actions in terms of volume are needed. The potential to scale, however, is currently still a challenge for Tony’s Open Chain as it is doubtful that large companies will join the initiative. Nevertheless, elements of Tony’s Open Chain can be copied by others, through which the initiative indirectly exerts influence."

Case

Tony's Open Chain

"Tony’s Open Chain approach is one for which no extensive literature exists so far. This creates a research opportunity to explore the initiative’s contribution in more depth. Tony’s Open Chain will therefore be used as case study. The aim of this master’s thesis is to collect insight on how Tony’s Open Chain approach provides a conceptual contribution to address sustainability challenges and how it drives structural change towards a more equally divided cocoa chain. The main objective is to investigate whether it contributes to making the chocolate industry more sustainable and to examine whether this commons initiative provides added value.

For this purpose, the following research question was formulated:

* How does Tony’s Open Chain, as a commons initiative, contribute to making the chocolate industry more sustainable?

The research focuses on two elements. First, the shortcomings and strengths of the current industry will be identified. The main problems the industry faces will be described and used as a basis for the transition to a more collaborative approach. Second, the commons will be investigated in more detail, with a particular focus on the open-source initiative ‘Tony’s Open Chain’. The research will investigate what types of commons the initiative comprises, and which elements could be considered as typically commons. In addition, it will investigate what contribution Tony’s Open Chain is making and what difficulties it is encountering. A qualitative case study research approach will be set up. The aim of this method is to exploratively obtain a very broad picture on the subject. A purposive sample, namely both stakeholders and non-stakeholders of Tony’s Chocolonely, will be interviewed. This creates the opportunity to compare the differences and similarities of opinions between various actors. The reasons for using a qualitative method will be discussed in more detail in section 3."