Board Members of the Ghana COCOBOD have embarked on a factory tour of some cocoa processing companies that operate within the Ghana Free Zones enclave to familiarise themselves with the challenges that face these companies.

The board, led by its chairman and Directors at COCOBOD visited Touton Negoce International, Niche Cocoa Industry Limited, B.D Associates, Cargill Ghana Ltd., Barry-Callebaut Ghana Ltd., and Cocoa Processing Company of Ghana.

The companies expressed delight delight at the visit describing it as unprecedented since it has never happened that the COCOBOD board will embark on a tour to visit the companies.

challenges

All the factories visited had numerous challenges that hindered the smooth operations of the company.

However, there were some three factors that cut across almost all the processing companies visited by the team on Wednesday.

Many of the companies complained bitterly about the high cost of energy.

According to them, even though the power supply has been constant and consistent, it’s the second highest expenditure after the cost of the purchase of cocoa beans.

They claimed that if government could work on reducing the tariff rate, it will make them more competitive in the market.

The Cocoa processing companies also lamented about the lack of light pod cocoa beans on the market.

Two of the companies, Cargill Ghana ltd and Barry-Callebaut expressed displeasure at the fact that they weren’t able to buy light pod cocoa from the market during the last production year.

They insisted that the expensiveness of the main pod cocoa beans results in higher expenditure in operating their plants.

They emphasised that they have had to shut down for months because of their inability to purchase beans to feed their plants and called on government through the board to either subsidise the cost of the main pod cocoa beans or ensure constant and fair supply of the light pod cocoa beans.

Another challenge facing the cocoa processing companies has to do with access to finance.

Some of the companies visited on Wednesday expressed their frustration about the difficulty they go through before getting financing from banks.

This is most evident with the locally owned processing companies like Cocoa Processing Company of Ghana and Niche Cocoa Industry Ltd.

According to them, their assets alone aren’t enough to serve as guarantee for loans and other financing help from the banks.

operations

Most of these cocoa processing companies are into the processing of cocoa into cocoa butter, cocoa cake and cocoa liquor.

It was also revealed that all companies had employed about 90% of Ghanaians as workforce.

Aside Niche Cocoa Industry and Cocoa Processing Company of Ghana that sell up to 30% of its products on the Ghanaian market, most of the other processing companies export more than 90% of its product to Europe and America.

This situation they blamed on complex duty payment and requirements system that is currently in place at the place.

The companies complained that the challenges they face have resulted in the production, less of their capacity except for Barry-callebaut Ghana ltd that produce at its peak because of support from its mother company.

Assurance

Mr Owusu Agyemang assured them of his constant support and reiterated government’s commitment to providing the right economic environment to grow the country.

He was disappointed that less than 0.05% of Ghanaians enjoy their own cocoa which has been the backbone of the country's growth for years.

He also declared the board's intention of focusing on farmers to ensure that they improve their well-being.

He also disclosed the government's plan to process up to 50% of the cocoa produced in the country and encouraged the processing companies to aggressively brand the cocoa with the Ghana label.