Swiss chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut has acquired Nyonkopa Cocoa Buying Company Limited in Ghana.
Nyonkopa will be incorporated into the Biolands Group, which is Barry Callebaut's direct sourcing organization.
Nyonkopa Cocoa Buying Company is a licensed buyer of cocoa from farmers and is authorized to market it to the Cocoa Marketing Company of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), which manages the cocoa sector in Ghana including quality control, sales and marketing.
Barry Callebaut CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said: "Nyonkopa will give us access to thousands of Ghanaian farmers at farm level and enable us to source directly from them and provide them with farm services. This is fully in line with our strategy to make cocoa farming more sustainable and attractive to farmers and our approach to focus on farmer productivity and community development.
"In addition, this step will enable us to satisfy the growing need of our customers for sustainable and traceable cocoa specifically from Ghana so they can meet the sustainability commitments they have made towards their consumers. The acquisition of Nyonkopa will furthermore support Barry Callebaut and our customers commitment to CocoaAction in Ghana."
Nyonkopa Cocoa was established in 2012 and became functional in 2013-14. The company has around 100 employees with 600 purchasing clerks and it purchases cocoa from over 10,000 cocoa farmers across 34 districts in the main cocoa growing regions of Ghana.
Recently, the company collaborated with Mondelez to expand Cocoa Life program as part of its commitment to empower 200,000 farmers and invest $400m in Cted'Ivoire and five other cocoa origins by 2022.
Through the initiative, Barry Callebaut will offer to farmers on agricultural training and access to inputs to improve cocoa productivity and incomes, while Solidaridad will work with cocoa communities to design community action plans and implement actions to strengthen livelihoods, empower women and promote children's rights.
Image: Barry Callebaut expands its cocoa sourcing options. Photo: Courtesy of Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
