Ghana Cocoa

Ghana Cocoa

The cocoa beans we source from Ghana for our Finest Belgian chocolate contribute to the typical acidic and fruity notes (mainly red fruits) in the taste.

CALLEBAUT Ghana cocoa farmers

HOW WE DIRECTLY SOURCE FROM FARMER COOPERATIVES IN GHANA

In Ghana, we directly source our cocoa beans from farmer organisations in 6 different districts. They are located in the West of Ghana where a dense vegetation belt and the tropical climate provide the perfect conditions for the cocoa tree to thrive.

Farmers in Ghana are organised in ‘farmer societies’. A society mostly corresponds to the farmer group of one or several small villages. Each village has one buying station, where farmers can present and sell their cocoa beans after it has been assessed. Each bag of beans is registered and gets a station mark, which guarantees the traceability back to the buying station, and eventually the farmer community. Every few days, the buying stations bring the bags of cocoa beans to the district warehouses, where it is officially graded and sealed. From there, the cocoa beans are shipped to one of the port warehouses – where the beans are graded again and prepared for their final shipment to Belgium.

FARMER COMMUNITIES IN GHANA

We source cocoa from 6 cocoa districts – which are sometimes divided in subdistricts – each with their own district warehouse.

  • Goaso: has 4 subdistricts (Goaso A, B , C and D) and represents 86 farmer groups with 2.301 active farmers in the Cocoa Horizons programme.
  • Kasapin: has 3 subdistricts (Kasapin A, B and C) and represents 89 farmer groups with 2.118 active farmers in the Cocoa Horizons programme.
  • Fosukrum: has 3 subdistricts (Fosukrum A, B and C). We source from farmer groups in the Fosukrum B and C subdistricts with 1.028 active farmers in the Cocoa Horizons programme.
  • Asumura: has 2 subdistricts (Asumura A and B) with 1.257 active farmers in the Cocoa Horizons programme
  • Dormaa
  • Nkrankwanta
CALLEBAUT Ghana map Cocoa Cultivation

LOCATION

Cocoa cultivation in Ghana is mainly concentrated in the green, tropical belt in the South below the Volta river, stretching over the entire width of the country. This region offers the right climatic conditions and environment for the cocoa tree to thrive. There are 2 seasons: the main crops, which starts in October and ends in January. The smaller mid-crop cycle starts in July.