Nyaho-Tamakloe Visits chocolate factory

Report On Visit To Swisslion-Takovo By His Excellency Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe On Tuesday, 29th August, 2006

Consistent with the policy of aggressive marketing of Ghana and attracting investment into the country, His Excellency Dr. Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe on 29th August, 2006, paid a working visit to Swisslion-Takovo, in Vrsac, 80km north of Belgrade. The purpose of the trip was to, first acquaint himself with the operations of Serbia’s biggest chocolate manufacturing company, and secondly to ascertain the source of raw materials acquisition / importation by Swisslion-Takovo.

His Excellency was welcomed to the premises of the company by Mr. Sasa Stupar, President of the Board of Swisslion, alongside Mr. Milorad Obradovic, Import Manager, and Ms. Ljubica Ckonjevic, Production Manager. Mr. Stupar then proceeded to brief His Excellency on the operations and business of Swisslion- Takovo which commenced operations some fifteen (15) years ago.

The President of the Board stated that the company which produced assorted chocolate products with varied flavours, chocolate filled biscuits and Takovo alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, had a total work-force of 10,000 spread across its two factories in Serbia. He disclosed that the company opened a branch factory in the Republic of Macedonia last August, stressing that the company had a wide distribution network across the whole Balkan region and countries of the former Yugoslavia.

It, also, exported its products to France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Slovakia, among other countries. Forty percent (40%) of the company’s revenue is accrued from exports, whilst the domestic market make up for 60%. For now, Mr. Stupar hinted that the company imported its raw materials (cocoa beans) from Germany, but intended to shift to Ghana should it become possible to purchase directly from Ghana.

Continuing, Mr. Stupar indicated that Swisslion was responsible for 60% of Serbia’s cocoa imports of 6,000 tons per annum, while the other companies shared the remaining 40% among themselves.

In his contribution, the Import Manager, Mr. Obradovic expressed his pleasure at His Excellency’s visit since, according to him, it presented the company with the opportunity of having direct access to cocoa producers in Ghana whom hitherto, Swisslion had had difficulties in having direct contact with. Heaving a great sigh of relief, the Import Manager was optimistic that the day’s exchanges / discussions could lead to Swisslion being considered a serious buyer of cocoa beans from Ghana.

In the long-term, however, he noted, the company intended to set up a processing plant in Ghana to facilitate the processing of cocoa beans.

For her part, the Production Manager, Ms. Ljubica Ckonjevic, explained that Swisslion’s primary objective was to, purchase cocoa beans and subsequently process them into cocoa butter, and the final chocolate products. The Company which according to her owned Serbia’s biggest chocolate processing facility / plant, also sold cocoa butter in huge quantities on the domestic market.

In his response, His Excellency, expressed gratitude to the Management and Board of Swisslion for making the visit possible, stressing that Ghana had long been associated with cocoa production.

His Excellency extolled the quality of Ghana’s cocoa which had been globally acknowledged, and noted that Ghana was currently the world’s second biggest producer of cocoa, after losing the first spot to La Cote d’Ivoire some few years back. He expressed the wish that the current Government of Ghana’s belief in the notion of private sector participation will spur on Swisslion to establish its own cocoa plantation and processing plant in Ghana, adding that such opportunities abounded in the country.

His Excellency assured the Management and Board of the company of the assistance of the Mission in ensuring that Swisslion had the right links in Ghana. He also discussed the possibility of Swisslion importing fresh oranges and pineapples from Ghana, in the near future, for processing in Serbia since these citrus fruits abound in Ghana. His Excellency further exhorted the Management of the company to arrange a visit to Ghana in the near future to observe, at first hand, the cocoa, pineapple and orange industries, in order to be well-informed.

TOUR OF THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

After the preliminary discussions, His Excellency was accompanied by the President of the Board, the Import Manager, and the Production Manager, respectively on a tour of the chocolate factory.

The Production Manager, Ms. Ljubica Ckonjevic, explained to His Excellency the three (3) stages of the production process, with the first process, being the filtering of the cocoa beans so as to separate unwanted particles from the beans which were subsequently fried and crushed into cocoa mass at a temperature of 50? celcius. Cocoa liquor is then obtained from at that point after which sterilization takes place at a temperature of 130 degrees celcius. Cocoa butter is subsequently extracted after that stage and converted into cake form. The process continued until finally chocolate was produced and cut into the desired bars. Packaging of the product was the last stage of the production process after which the products were ready for the market.

It is worth noting that the whole production process was computer – programmed and could produce according to command specifications. There was very little human contact with the process until the final stage of packaging into boxes.

After the tour of the factory, His Excellency gave his impressions about the factory. He acknowledged the orderliness and cleanliness within the offices and factory of Swisslion. His Excellency appealed to the company to endeavour to invite one cocoa farmer from Ghana to visit the factory each year, to observe the processing of cocoa into chocolate. That, according to him would raise the morale of the peasant cocoa farmer and spur him / her to work harder since, in His Excellency’s view, the peasant cocoa farmer had no idea about how the product of his toil – cocoa beans – ended up in the factory to be converted into chocolate.

His Excellency also suggested to the company that after the company transformed the beans into powder, chocolate and other related products, they should be inscribed with ‘Ghana Cocoa’, so as to depict the source of the raw material. He was hopeful that in the long-run Swisslion would establish a processing plant in Ghana to process the cocoa beans into other products, thereby reducing cost for the company. His Excellency thanked the Board and the Management for making the trip a success.

Responding, the President of the Board, Mr. Sasa Stupar assured His Excellency that his suggestion of marking cocoa products from that factory with Ghana’s name would be favourably considered, and expressed satisfaction that the two sides had reached an agreement in principle regarding the purchasing of cocoa beans from Ghana in the near future, and the establishment of a processing plant in Ghana in the long-run.

It is expected that the respective cocoa producer companies will live up to expectation when it comes to the issue of meeting import demands of companies from Serbia and other parts of the region so as to rake in the requisite revenue for the overall development of Ghana’s economy.