The country’s cocoa production sector is under serious threat with climate change, disease, moribund farms, overaged tree stock, an aging farmer population, and an acute labour shortage, just some of the issues affecting productivity … that is why we welcome a new initiative by a Ghanaian agricultural services consortium to address these challenges.
The family-owned company has been processing cocoa beans into cocoa mass, butter, and powder at its own exclusively organic plant in Winterthur, Switzerland, since June 2022 and says an assessment carried out this month shows there have been no pesticide cases in the semi-finished cocoa products since production started.
Resource-rich countries like Ghana are often cut out of lucrative parts of the business like manufacturing. The “fairchain movement” wants to change that.
Cocoa bean, seed of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), which is used to create cocoa and cocoa butter, key ingredients of chocolate. The beans themselves can be crushed or chopped into “nibs” for a variety of culinary uses, from salad dressing to ice cream toppings; they can also add thickness to a