Goodio Supply Chain: A Chocolatey Future?

Abstract

This case uses the experiences of a Finnish craft chocolate company to analyze the impact of supply chain transparency on suppliers and consumers. The case discusses the rationale behind entrepreneur Jukka Peltola's business committed to social responsibility and purpose over profit. It describes Goodio's efforts toward transparency and follows Peltola as he asks what more he can do to advance transparency and how different presentations of supply chain transparency affect consumer purchase decisions cross-culturally. Excerpt UVA-OM-1613 Jan. 17, 2019 Goodio Supply Chain: A Chocolatey Future? Thinking it was unhealthy, Jukka Peltola had never eaten much chocolate. When he learned that cacao was high in antioxidants providing health benefits, Peltola was surprised and decided to try it. As he added raw cacao to his diet and discarded dairy products, Peltola started to feel rejuvenated. He carefully read labels searching for healthy chocolate products, but found it difficult to find out where ingredients came from or how they were processed. He kept coming back to a simple notion—“what if there was a food brand you could trust?” That set Peltola in motion to become a chocolatier and share his newfound energy and well-being with others. Leaving his work as a video game producer for Rovio Entertainment (of Angry Birds fame), Peltola opened his first craft chocolate factory in Helsinki, Finland, becoming chief creative officer. Goodio, his company, started with a EUR15,000 subsidy and a EUR35,000 loan from the government of Finland. Three years later, Goodio moved to a new factory to increase production volume and accommodate more staff. Not the typical manufacturing site, this one included a visitor center. Goodio reached EUR1million in sales in 2016 and by the end of summer 2018, Peltola and his team were running a medium-sized chocolate company with markets in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. Goodio was committed to social responsibility and purpose over profit. Peltola believed that transparency was key to that promise. As a result, Goodio purchased 35 tonnes of cacao from Luis Mancini, a farmer/supplier with whom Goodio had developed a relationship over the years. Mancini paid above farm-gate prices to farmers for cacao beans. In addition, Goodio focused on purchasing quality ingredients, such as locally picked Finnish blueberries, to go into the raw chocolate. . . .