Ede cocoa plant now produces chocolate and cocoa drinks thereby creating numerous jobs in Osun State. The factory is now processing all Osun cocoa production estimated at over 70,000 tonnes.
The Processing Plant has no debt burden and it is now producing Nigeria’s cocoa cake, powder, chocolate and butter. This makes it easy for Nigeria’s processed cocoa to compete favourably.
The plant remains one of the fastest selling and most desirable agricultural commodities in the international market due to the rapid growth and expansion of chocolate confectioneries and other products.
Osun State is putting a stop to billions of Naira that Nigerians are using to import chocolate and other cocoa products from EU countries, by producing “Made in Nigeria” Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Cake, Cocoa Powder and Chocolates and flood world market with “Made in Nigeria” chocolates. Osun Cocoa Processing Plant, Ede is investing heavily on research and development, and also empowering research institutes and technological institutions to build equipment for the industry rather than importing which is a good step.
The Nigeria chocolate can thus be described as chocolate that is cheerfully made with love from single origin beans of high quality, rich in diverse fine flavours and can be found from the different cocoa-producing regions in the country infused with the Nigeria spirit of resilience, achievement and purpose with diversity in the art and culture with a beautiful blend of an array of spices that captures the very essence of our being.
This Osun Cocoa Processing Plant, Ede is not only strategic but historic. People around the world are familiar with Belgian, Swiss, Dutch or Modica chocolates even though these countries do not produce cocoa which is the main component of chocolate, unlike the confectionary people who are used to which has minimum cocoa quality with lots of unhealthy additives, chocolate compounds, animal fat, sugar and cocoa.
Nigeria is the fourth largest global producer of cocoa, behind Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ecuador and it is one of the major cash crops grown in Nigeria but 85 per cent of it is exported and chocolates are imported in return, available statistics shows.
It is on this basis that the Nigeria chocolate industry is striving to have its fair share in the ever-growing global chocolate market.
Osun cocoa processing plant, Ede has created opportunities for chocolate makers, chocolatiers and chefs, as well as equipment and accessory manufacturers, restaurants, dessert and pastry chefs, ingredients suppliers, cosmetics experts and branding/packaging companies among others who use cocoa as the main ingredient of their products to showcase what they can do.
Source: Guardian
