Increased consumption of cocoa by the people, he said, was vital to expand the local market for the crop.The Cocobod CEO’s call comes amid the tumble of the price of the commodity on the international market – a development that has become a huge bother to the major producers.

Mr. Aidoo, addressing a staff durbar in Kumasi, said it was important to get the farmers and everybody to eat chocolate and other cocoa products.  He spoke of their determination to ensure that the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) operated optimally. It would also have adequate supply of cocoa beans for processing to meet local market demands, he added.

He said this was the way forward to enable Ghana to have greater share of the cocoa industry value chain, which he labeled as “very huge and highly profitable”.  He pledged the government’s readiness to provide the needed incentives to attract more people into cocoa farming to raise production.

Mr. Aidoo asked the workers to lead the campaign to promote local consumption of cocoa products.  He also reminded them to support farmers with the extension services to help them to increase output and returns.