Ghana is one of the world’s biggest producers of cocoa, yet for most of its history, the beans were shipped abroad to be turned into chocolate in Europe and America. In Tema, a factory has been trying to change that for decades. The Cocoa Processing Company makes cocoa butter, cocoa liquor and powder, and it produces Golden Tree, the chocolate brand that many Ghanaians grew up eating. Its fortunes have risen and fallen, but it remains a symbol of the country’s hope to earn more from its most famous crop.
Cocoa, the factory and its owners
Cocoa has been grown in Ghana since the late nineteenth century and is one of the country’s main exports. The company’s factory is in Tema, Ghana’s main industrial port city east of Accra. The company is majority-owned by the state through the Ghana Cocoa Board, known as COCOBOD. Some shares are held by private investors.
The Cocoa Processing Company is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Most of its output is semi-finished products such as cocoa butter and cocoa liquor, sold to manufacturers abroad.
Golden Tree and financial troubles
Golden Tree is its consumer chocolate brand. The bars are sold in supermarkets, filling stations and by street vendors across Ghana. The company has made other confectionery products, including Kingsbite chocolate and cocoa drinks. Selling chocolate in a hot country brings its own problems. Bars left in the sun at a roadside stall soften quickly, so sellers keep them in cool boxes or shaded shelves.
The company has faced debts, ageing equipment and losses in many years, leading to calls for restructuring. Governments have repeatedly said Ghana should process more of its cocoa locally. The company is central to that debate.
Chocolate Day, competition and the future
On 14 February, Ghana marks National Chocolate Day, encouraging people to eat locally made chocolate. Golden Tree is often at the centre of promotions. Smaller Ghanaian chocolate makers have emerged in recent years, offering premium bars. Golden Tree is also sold abroad, particularly to Ghanaians living overseas. Plans to revive the company have focused on new investment and better equipment.
Ghana grows cocoa on a huge scale, but most Ghanaians rarely eat chocolate. A Golden Tree bar may be the only one many children taste.