Cargill to Establish Cocoa Plant for Ghanaian

The Ghana investment will complement Cargill’s other cocoa producing facilities to help meet increasing demand from customers around the globe.

24/07/07 Cargill has broken ground at the site where it will build a new value-added cocoa processing facility in Tema, Ghana. Ceremony was attended by His Excellency John Kufuor, President of Ghana; Mr. Mark Keenum, U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture; Mr. Isaac Osei, Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa board; Mr. Ron Christenson, Cargill’s Chief Technology Officer; Mr. Paul Naar, Head of Cargill’s Food Ingredients businesses in Europe, Middle East and Africa and Mr. Leo Winters, Head of Cargill’s West African Cocoa businesses.

A long-term supply agreement was signed between Cargill and the Ghana Cocoa Board in June 2006 paving the way for a state-of-the-art plant to be built that will produce cocoa liquor, butter and powder, processing 65,000 metric tonnes initially, with the potential to expand to 120,000 metric tonnes. The plant is expected to be operational by Summer 2008 and is part of Cargill’s continued commitment to the Ghanaian cocoa sector.

”We are excited to be making a contribution to Ghana’s growing economy. This plant will incorporate some of the latest technology to ensure Ghanaian cocoa is processed to the highest standards”, commented Paul Naar, Head of Cargill’s Food Ingredients businesses in Europe, Middle East and Africa. ”Ghana is one of the most important cocoa supplying countries in the world and creating value-added products in Ghana will not only be good for the people of Ghana, but will also allow us to provide a greater range of cocoa products to meet the growing needs of our cocoa customers around the world. We realise how fortunate we are to have access to such high quality cocoa and are grateful for the continued support and leadership of the Ghanaian Government.”

“We are delighted that Cargill has chosen Ghana to build a world-class cocoa processing facility,” said President Kufuor. ”Cargill is a well-respected private company whose involvement in our country will create jobs, benefit farmers, and contribute to the local community.”

West Africa produces nearly three-quarters of the world’s cocoa. The Ghana investment will complement Cargill’s other cocoa producing facilities to help meet increasing demand from customers around the globe. The company has a network of cocoa processing facilities in Western Europe, Côte d’Ivoire, Brazil and the USA. Cargill has been supplying quality cocoa products to customers around the world in the chocolate, confectionery and food industry for about 40 years.