How can companies build a profitable business while staying deeply committed to people, planet, and long-term impact?
Douglas Lamont, CEO of Tony’s Chocolonely, joins us for a conversation about what it means to build a company where impact comes first and business growth supports a greater purpose. Drawing on his experience leading both Tony’s and Innocent Drinks, Douglas shares how his approach to leadership has been shaped by a long-standing belief that companies can balance people, profit, and planet while scaling successfully. We explore how Tony’s has built its business around the goal of ending exploitation in the cocoa industry and why that mission remains central to every major decision the company makes.
In our conversation, Douglas explains how Tony’s Mission Lock structure is designed to protect the company’s purpose across future generations of leadership and ownership. He unpacks Tony’s Open Chain model and its 5 Sourcing Principles (traceability, higher prices, long-term commitments, strong farmers, and quality and productivity), which allow other companies to source cocoa through the same ethical supply chain. This approach prioritizes collaboration over competition in service of solving deeply rooted industry challenges.
We also explore the role of the B Corp movement in driving change at scale, why businesses should focus on inspiring broader industry action, and Douglas’s work with the Better Business Act to help shift corporate law toward balancing profit with social and environmental responsibility. Listen in for an inspiring conversation on how businesses can become a powerful force for long-term systemic change.
What You’ll Learn:
Learn how Tony’s Chocolonely builds business around impact rather than profit alone
Discover how their Mission Lock structure helps the company protect its purpose long-term
Explore how Tony’s Open Chain initiative and its 5 Sourcing Principles help create a more ethical cocoa industry
Understand why collaboration is essential for solving systemic industry challenges
Recognize why B Corps should inspire broader change beyond their own communities
Learn about the Better Business Act and how corporate law can better balance profit with social and environmental responsibility
Quotations:
“We describe ourselves, not as a chocolate company, but as an impact company that makes chocolate.” — Douglas Lamont [0:04:31]
“If you want to solve a problem in an industry like this, where it’s such an entrenched issue, you have to collaborate in the supply chain, and then compete at shelf.” — Douglas Lamont [0:19:45]
“I think business is there to serve society over the long term.” — Douglas Lamont [0:30:46]
“We didn’t come up with the 5 sourcing principles in year one; it took like 12 years to get it right.” — Douglas Lamont [0:36:43]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Douglas Lamont — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-lamont-334389/
Tony’s Chocolonely: https://tonyschocolonely.com/
Tony’s Mission Lock: https://tonyschocolonely.com/pages/mission-lock
Tony’s Open Chain: https://www.tonysopenchain.com/
Tony’s 5 Sourcing Principles: https://tonyschocolonely.com/pages/tonys-5-sourcing-principles
Incorruptible: https://www.incorruptible.co/
Better Business Act: https://betterbusinessact.org/
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Gratitude
Thank you to Corey Lien, Nozomii Torii, and Kirsten G. Bryant for being our monthly contributors at Beyond the B!