The General Manager of Cadbury Cocoa World, Mr. Gerrard Baldwin, has described the country’s cocoa as best quality and a key ingredient of Cadbury chocolates and other confectioneries.

Mr. Baldwin said that about 25% of cocoa used for making Cadbury chocolates is sourced from Ghana.

According to Baldwin, Cadbury World – through Mondelez Cocoa Life – has rolled out a US$400 million livelihood empowerment project in cocoa-growing communities of Africa as part of efforts to better the lot of cocoa farmers.

Mr. Baldwin made these remarks when five outstanding Ghanaian cocoa farmers visited Cadbury World at Bourneville as part of a two-week visit to the UK.

Mr. Baldwin used the farmer’s visit to walk them through the company’s operations and its recreational facilities, and commended the cocoa farmers for their efforts at improving the quality of cocoa produced — encouraging them to adopt modern technologies to make cocoa farming attractive for the younger generation.

Mr. Barnett Quaicoo, the Manager of Cocoa Marketing Company Ltd. UK, described Cadbury as one of the biggest trading partners in the UK that sources cocoa beans from Ghana Cocoa Board.

Mr. Quaicoo added that the choice of Cadbury for the farmer’s visit was to allow the farmers experience cocoa processing and interact with the buyers of their produce.

Mr. Noah Amenyah, the Senior Public Affairs Manager of Ghana Cocoa Board who accompanied the farmers, said the cocoa farmers produce an average of about 2,000kg per hectare.

Mr. Amenyah indicated that the farmers had maintained best agronomic and environmental conservation practices to produce best cocoa and emerge as award winners for the 2015 and 2016 cocoa seasons.

He said the trip will encourage other cocoa farmers to work harder to win similar awards.

The farmers are Nana Kweku Adu, 2015 National Best Cocoa Farmer; Nana Opoku Gyamfi, 2016 National Best Cocoa Farmer; and Madam Martha Addai, 2016 Most Enterprising Female Cocoa Farmer. The others are Nana Johnson Mensah, Western Regional Chief Farmer; and Nana Obeng Akrofi, Eastern Regional Chief Farmer.