Cocoa industry ventures by KOA scrutinized (1)
German Investor Establishes Ghana's First Cocoa-Pulp Manufacturing Factory in 2017
Koa Natural, a cocoa pulp processing company, was established in Ghana and Switzerland in 2017 by a German investor who initially came to Ghana to explore solar business opportunities. The company's first plant is in Assin Akrofuom, Central Region, Ghana. The venture was born out of the founders' discovery of the untapped potential of cocoa pulp, a waste material that no one in Ghana was adding value to.
Koa Natural's mission is to make a social impact by adding value to cocoa by-products, thereby providing an additional income stream for farmers. The company researched and engaged directly with farmers to build trust and co-design a procurement and handling system suitable for them. The core issue they identified was the burden placed on farmers by the cocoa chocolate value chain, combined with a lack of investment in by-product value addition.
The company's operations are decentralized, with mobile processing units going to farmers' pod-breaking areas to evacuate wet beans for processing and returning them to the farmer's fermentation area as agreed. This approach not only brings farmers an extra net income but also decreases the cost of producing dried cocoa beans.
Enrichment Data: Koa Natural's product, a 100% natural cocoa fruit juice, is rich in magnesium and potassium and contains no preservatives, additives, or added sugars. The company works directly with around 10,000 small cocoa producers in Ghana, securing significant funding to scale the operation. The natural juice product is widely available in Ghana through major retail outlets like Melcom, Add Pharmacy, and Top Up Pharmacy. The business model supports rural livelihoods and local product development in the cocoa sector by integrating local agricultural producers into value-added processing.
As the son of a Ghanaian cocoa farmer, the author of this series of articles remains skeptical of Western investors' sustainability claims. The author interviewed some of Koa Natural's management members to understand their business and probe further into their transparency system. Future articles will explore Koa Natural's radical transparency digital platform, the impact on smallholder farmers, and the author's concluding thoughts on the venture.
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Author's bio: A Cocoa Farmer's Son with expertise in international trade & policy, industrial policy, and project management, with a professional focus on the cocoa-chocolate industry, the smallholder cocoa farmer, and the digital economy.
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- The German investor, with a background in international trade and policy, established Koa Natural, a business focusing on the cocoa industry and the sustainable development of smallholder farmers.
- To address sustainability concerns, Koa Natural has implemented a radical transparency digital platform, which is set to be explored further in upcoming articles.
- Koa Natural's product, a 100% natural cocoa fruit juice, enriched with minerals like magnesium and potassium, is free from preservatives, additives, and added sugars.
- The company's operations in trade and production are decentralized, promoting rural livelihoods and local product development through value-added processing.
- In addition to securing funding for scaling their operations, Koa Natural collaborates directly with around 10,000 small cocoa producers in Ghana, making a social impact by providing an additional income stream for farmers.
- The author's skepticism of Western investors' sustainability claims led them to question Koa Natural's management about their transparency system, which will be discussed in future articles, alongside the impact on smallholder farmers and the author's concluding thoughts on the venture.
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