HUNGRY. 23 Hidden Strategies Behind Tony’s Chocolonely’s £400M Growth - Douglas Lamont, Tony's CEO
Jan 19, 2026
Douglas Lamont, CEO of Tony's Chocolonely and seasoned FMCG leader, discusses high-stakes strategy as risk choice, not spreadsheet math. He explains prioritising mission over safety, layering many small bets across brand, innovation and geography, and scaling ethical traceable cocoa systems. Stories cover ruthless portfolio edits, backing winners fast, and creating lasting consumer loyalty through experiences.
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Balanced Unhappiness As A Decision Heuristic
- If people across your business are "equally unhappy," you likely have the right balance between people, profit and mission.
- Douglas Lamont uses that as a heuristic to judge hard trade-offs in mission-led companies.
Run Multiple Small Bets, Then Back Winners
- Make many small-to-medium bets across product, marketing and countries instead of one house-betting move.
- Back winners quickly and ruthlessly kill failures to free resources for winners.
Market Only Proven Shelf Winners
- Only pour significant marketing behind products that already show good on-shelf rates of sale.
- Use early retail performance to halve marketing risk before scaling spend.
