Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama and the visiting Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Haile Mariam Desalegn, visited and toured the factory of Cocoa Touton Processing Company (CTPC) at the Tema free zone enclave, as part of activities aimed at highlighting Ghana’s sturdy growth and development in the manufacturing sector of the economy.
The visit to CTPC’s factory further deepens Ghana-Ethiopia diplomatic ties and consolidates the West African nation’s position as the preferred destination for trade and investment on the continent, on account of a stable democracy, respect for the rule of law and, an enabling business environment.
THE TOUTON GROUP is one of the world’s largest traders in cocoa, coffee, vanilla, spices and a variety of natural ingredients, using a network of exporting subsidiaries. The company crowned its over 40 year trade relations with Ghana, by investing in a multi-million Euro cocoa processing facility in the country last year, joining the list of the very few companies producing cocoa liquor for export.
In Ghana, Cocoa Touton Processing Company currently produces 30, 000 tons of processed cocoa and exports to countries in Europe, USA and the Middle East with a turnover of USD 80 000 000.
Welcoming the two leaders to the factory’s premises, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Touton Group, Olivier Lieutard, emphasized the importance of both countries to the operations of the company. “Besides trading in Ghana cocoa, Touton has also been trading with Ethiopia in coffee, over the past ten years. Ghana and Ethiopia respectively, produce the most premium quality cocoa and coffee in the world,” he pointed out.
Lieutard paid glowing tributes to the Ghanaian government and the Ghana Cocoa Board for their support and consistent supply of cocoa beans, which has helped Touton maintain operations at optimum capacity, since the facility was established.
Instructively, the Touton group took over an existing factory built in 2007 in April last year and became Cocoa Touton Processing Company.
It currently has 135 employees. Among Touton’s prestigious customers are Nestle, Ferrero, Mondelez, Nespresso, Altinmarka, Blommer Chocolate, Lindt & Sprungli, etc.
African Eye Report
