How Tony’s Chocolonely reduced order processing time by 90%
About
Tony’s Chocolonely is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the Netherlands. The company is known for its mission to make all chocolate 100% exploitation-free.
Following its initial success, order volumes increased rapidly. Tony’s operations team was tasked with expanding across Europe and bringing its products to more supermarket shelves.
To scale without adding more manual work, Tony’s needed to automate B2B trade processes and reduce its dependence on limited internal IT resources.
Challenge
When Tony’s expanded into German-speaking markets, the company quickly gained listings with major supermarket chains.
Initially, the team processed incoming orders manually and added more people as volumes increased. But this was not scalable. Retailers such as Edeka required Tony’s to establish digital connectivity within six months or risk commercial consequences.
Tony’s needed to connect with multiple retailers across different markets—each with its own EDI requirements, formats and processes. The team had limited time and could not depend on internal IT for every new integration.
As an API-first company using Boomi and Microsoft Business Central, Tony’s also wanted a connectivity infrastructure that could:
- Connect multiple trading partners through one central interface.
- Fit into its existing API-based architecture.
- Automate B2B order processing.
- Validate data before it reached downstream systems.
- Support different market and retailer requirements.
- Scale across countries without adding new point-to-point integrations.
Solution
Procuros became the central connectivity infrastructure for Tony’s.
Through one API connection, Tony’s gained access to the Procuros network, including retailers such as Edeka, Rewe, Globus and Metro. Procuros managed the retailer-specific formats, requirements and communication, reducing the need for Tony’s IT and operations teams to build expertise for every market.
Tony’s integrated the Procuros API into its existing Boomi architecture through one planned IT sprint. Orders could then flow automatically between retail partners and Microsoft Business Central through a single, transparent setup.
Procuros also validated incoming data and returned clear feedback when information was incorrect. This created trusted data for downstream processes, reduced operational errors and enabled end-to-end order automation.
The setup established an AI-native supply chain connectivity foundation that Tony’s could reuse across partners, processes and markets. Instead of building a new integration for every trading relationship, Tony’s could connect once and continue scaling its B2B trade automation.
Procuros jumped in and helped us set up an EDI connection with all our trade partners. The setup is super smooth and was done in no time. This not only enables us to grow further and change the chocolate industry for good, but also saves a lot of time within our operations team.
Results
With Procuros, Tony’s created a scalable foundation for European retail expansion:
- 90% reduction in order processing time
- End-to-end automation of incoming orders
- One central API connection for multiple retail partners
- Minimal ongoing involvement from internal IT
- Fewer processing errors through automated data validation
- Faster expansion into new retailers and markets
The initial implementation was so simple that Tony’s expanded the use of Procuros beyond the originally planned DACH region.
With reliable connectivity and trusted data in place, Tony’s can continue automating more B2B trade processes. Planned use cases include connecting logistics partners, expanding into additional markets, integrating suppliers and improving data validation to support automated price matching.
Finding a partner that uses forward-looking technologies was one of the most important decision criteria. For us, this means an API-first approach to maintain flexibility for adding additional use cases later on.
