Akufo-Addo Challenges his Country to Produce Chocolate on a Commercial Scale

Ghana, the second largest producer after Côte d’Ivoire, accounts for about one-fifth of the world’s cocoa bean exports. But of $ 130 billion in the global chocolate industry, less than $ 2 billion flows into Ghana. From poor infrastructure to lack of manufacturing and market know-how, obstacles are formidable but people have been making chocolate in Ghana for 20 years. Some domestic companies manufacture bars for Ghana’s growing domestic market, but many are not of high quality to appeal to European consumers. Two Ghanaian sisters run ’57 chocolate, one of the craftsmanship makers that produces small quantities of fine chocolate. Fairafric is a German and Ghanaian company trying to break the mold by producing large quantities of export quality chocolate. The company plans to build a $ 10 million plant north of the capital, Accra, to produce 50 million and 100 million bottles annually. This is still modest by the standards of automated European consignment manufacturers, and global brands could mass-produce ten times that amount. Ghana cannot yet compete on price with robotised western factories but made-in-Ghana chocolate does well in a premium market.

SOURCE: FINANCIAL TIMES