(Hello Africa) Chinese market offers hope for Ghana's cocoa exports

ACCRA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese market offers a ray of hope for Ghana to diversify the export destination of its major cash crop cocoa as the bilateral relations between the two countries deepen, a business executive told Xinhua.

Nathaniel Durant, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Niche Cocoa Industries, a Ghana-based cocoa processing company, said a well-cultivated Chinese market could become a key destination for raw beans, semi-finished, and finished cocoa products to bring better returns to the country and its cocoa farmers.

Durant stated that industry players must first learn and understand the Chinese market concerning tastes, reasons or times of consumption, and even the visual components of the various cocoa products that attract consumers.

"Chocolate is consumed differently in China than it is in Europe. Consumption is around festivals, and bigger festivals are a big push for chocolate," he stated.

He urged that the approach to entering the Chinese market with cocoa should not necessarily be by the traditional way of using per capita consumption or population to determine the potentials of a market.

"Most people talk about the 1.5 billion people. But that does not mean they are all the same. There needs to be a much better appreciation for the culture, and the taste around that, because people in the same community may have different tastes," the business executive added.

He added that understanding this particular aspect of Chinese consumption alone would create opportunities for confectionaries made from Ghana's premium cocoa. Durant cautioned, however, that despite these opportunities in that country, the approach should not just be about producing and pouring into their market but approaching the market with better facts.

Besides exporting to China, the business executive listed many other opportunities for Ghana-China collaboration in the cocoa industry.

"We are not just trying to link with China through cocoa beans. There are opportunities to work in the cocoa trade, opportunities in finished products. There are financing opportunities and joint-venturing opportunities," he stated.

"It is more than just the cocoa or the chocolate. We also appreciate the other strengths and competencies that the Chinese companies bring to the table," Durant added.

Durant said that with Ghanaian farmers still producing the sun-dried premium cocoa, the company had what it takes to deal with the Chinese market over the long term.

Cocoa farming is the main preoccupation of locals in the forest belts in 11 out of the 16 regions of Ghana. But the farmers supplement their cocoa income with food crop cultivation to survive all year round.

The farm work, mostly manpower-driven, using machetes for weeding around the crops, is strenuous, demanding patience and hard work to produce the beans sold to purchasing companies for export by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the industry regulator.

"I took over my mother's land after the death of my elder brother 15 years ago, and I produce cocoa. Cocoa takes about eight years to start bearing fruit, and by 15 years, the trees begin to yield more for the farmer," Yahaya Abudu, a Ghanaian farmer, told Xinhua.

He added that "Cocoa pricing is not too good, and the purchasing companies do not pay us the full value of our products. But it is better than staying idle. I am happy to see Chinese buying and consuming Ghana's cocoa."

Abubakar Mubarak, 23, another cocoa farmer in the Eastern Region, said it was a great joy knowing that many countries, including China, enjoyed chocolate and other cocoa products made from the beans produced by farmers like himself.