Barry Callebaut Starts Production At Tema Export Zone

Barry Callebaut, the world's largest user of cocoa beans and the first to establish a factory at the Tema Export Processing Zone (EPZ), has begun processing cocoa beans into unrefined cocoa liquor for export to France.

Mr Jack Sinclair, Managing Director of Barry Callebaut Ghana Limited, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview, when Vice-President Mahama Aliu paid a working visit to the EPZ on Wednesday.

Mr Sinclair said that the 10 million- dollar-factory with a capacity to process 30,000 metric tonnes of beans a year under phase one of its programme would soon double its production with an additional investment of 10 million dollars.

He said Barry Callebaut, which has 24 cocoa processing and chocolate factories worldwide with the biggest in the US and Belgium, was in Ghana to serve the needs of its companies and not to compete with the Cocoa Processing Companies (CPC) at Tema and Takoradi.

The factory, which uses modern state of the art machinery, employs 60 workers.

Barry Callebaut currently processes between 410,000 and 420,000 tonnes of cocoa beans annually.

Ferrucio Conti of Italy, manufacturers of high quality shoes would start production at the Tema EPZ by November.