The Cocoa Processing Company says there are enough chocolates on the market to support this year’s Valentine’s Day celebrations christened in Ghana as the National Chocolate Day.

Mr Augustine Webongtey Apom, Kumasi Area Manager of the company told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi that there were no shortages of the product in Kumasi as was being speculated.

Reacting to reports of possible shortages of chocolates ahead of the Valentine’s Day celebration on Sunday, he said there was enough stock available for patrons of the company’s products.

He explained that since most of the times the public preferred the Golden Tree chocolate brand, demand for it at this time of period was always high. This year’s Valentine Day’s celebration seems to be on the low side in the Kumasi metropolis.

The usual hype which characterized the event, especially on radio, was almost absent.

Some people were attributing it to the closure of restaurants, night clubs and other event centres as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, patronage of chocolate and other gift items were going on briskly in the markets.

A visit to the central business district by the Ghana News Agency on Friday afternoon said people were buying chocolates and other gift items. Mr Kofi Appau, a Phone Dealer, expressed worry about the closure of entertainment centres as a result of the coronavirus and said it was going to affect the celebrations.

Mrs Adwoa Yeboah, a trader who was selling multiple gifts at Kejetia Market, was worried about the increase in the prices of gift items on the market.

“I have been trading in these items for a very long time, but this year people are not really purchasing due to the prices”, she told the GNA.

She explained that the price of “love” teddy bears for instance, which was sold between GHc 15 and GHc 200.00 last year, were now selling between GH¢40.00 and GH¢300.00.

Miss Mabel Odame, a trader in chocolate, however, said though the prices were high, demand for it had increased in recent days and people were finding it difficult to get some to buy.