Chocolate brand modernizes label operations with new software

Tony’s Chocolonely is an impact company committed to ending exploitation in cocoa. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the company generates over €250 million in annual revenue and operates internationally under B Corp and Fairtrade certifications.

Tony’s Chocolonely is a widely regarded company in ethical confectionery. It strives to prove that large-scale chocolate production can be transparent, traceable, and socially responsible.

At its production facility in Borsbeek, Belgium, the company produces chocolate bars daily across a wide range of flavors, weights, and packaging formats. With five production lines operating at high speed and handling frequent changeovers – accurate and consistent product identification is essential to maintaining efficiency, quality, and compliance.

Manual processes and server dependency

Errors in labeling, reliance on local servers, and manual interventions on the production line were limiting operational efficiency at Tony’s Chocolonely.

As production complexity increased, several limitations in the existing labeling setup became clear, including dependence on an on-premise server, manual data entry by operators leading to increased risk of labeling errors, and system or power failures causing production downtime.

“Our ERP system was not connected to the labeling software. This required a lot of manual re-entry, which led to errors. And when the server went down, production came to a complete halt,” remarks Feike van der Werf, head of IT, Tony’s Chocolonely.

In addition, on the production floor, printers required manual configuration and systems operated in silos. This increased operational risk, reduced flexibility, and added unnecessary complexity to daily operations.

A phased move to a fully integrated cloud labeling environment

Tony’s Chocolonely modernized its labeling operations by moving to Loftware, a fully cloud-based labeling solution that improved stability, efficiency, and control while reducing manual intervention and labeling errors.

Together with De Koningh, the company redesigned its labeling process using a structured three phase approach. The approach minimizes disruption while replacing manual data entry, and on-premise server dependency with integrated cloud control.

“We rebuilt the entire process – from label design to printing and control. Everything is now managed from a single, centralized cloud environment,” states Jean Paul van Oudhuis, software engineer, De Koningh.

Starting with an initial hybrid phase, existing printers remained in use while the integration between the ERP (Microsoft Business Central) and Loftware was established. The on-premise server remained in place to act as an intermediary layer.

The next phase focused on hardware upgrades, replacing printers that were not cloud-ready. The company deployed SATO cloud enabled printers.

In the final phase, the company completely removed the on-premise server, enabling direct cloud-based control of all processes and printers. A centralized environment then managed label design and driverless printing, completing the transition to the cloud.

A connected labeling foundation

Loftware gives Tony’s Chocolonely a centralized way to manage labeling, product data, and printing across its production environment. By connecting labeling directly with core business systems, the company can improve accuracy, consistency, and control as operations scale.

“All label printers are now controlled from the cloud. This significantly reduces errors and lowers the risk of incorrect labeling and product recalls,” says Antoine van Delft, software expert, De Koningh.

The solution standardizes label design, management, and printing while integrating with systems such as ERP, WMS, MES, and PLM. The solution ensures users apply the right label data consistently across production, reducing manual effort and supporting compliance.

For Tony’s Chocolonely, the company centrally manages label design in Loftware. Here, operators can select labels directly from Microsoft Business Central. Plus, users can control all label printers automatically from the cloud. With no manual printer configuration required on the shop floor, teams now have greater visibility across every production line.

Greater stability, accuracy, and operational control

By moving to a fully cloud-based labeling environment, Tony’s Chocolonely gained a more stable, connected, and scalable foundation for production labeling. The transition eliminated manual data entry and printer configuration, reduced dependence on local infrastructure, and established a single source of truth for labeling data. With consistent, validated labels across production lines, the company reduced the risk of labeling errors and recalls. Meanwhile, it gave its teams greater visibility and operational control.

The new system also improved production continuity by removing the dependency on local servers. Plus, the new product reduced the need for physical intervention on printers, as well. These changes helped reduce the risk of production stoppages and delivered daily time savings.

As Victor van Dijck, operations planning lead, explains, “We save approximately 30 minutes per day – which quickly adds up.”

Remote monitoring has further improved the ability of IT teams to manage labeling operations. They can also respond to issues without visiting production sites. “We can monitor everything remotely from Amsterdam and intervene without being on‑site,” says van der Werf.

Working with De Koningh and SATO, Tony’s Chocolonely has created a centralized, cloud-controlled labeling environment that supports greater accuracy, operational resilience, and future growth and digitalization across its manufacturing operations.