Top 6 Cocoa Exports in Ghana

Cocoa is Ghana’s most important agricultural export, making up 23% of total export earnings. Ghana is the 2^nd largest cocoa exporter in the world. Other main exporters of Cocoa include Côte D’Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon.

Which countries are the target market for the top 6 cocoa exports in Ghana? Top on the list is the Netherlands receiving 25% of Ghana’s cocoa, followed by the UK at 10.1%, Malaysia at 8.95%, France at 8.6% and the United States at 7.3%. Other countries that import cocoa from Ghana are Belgium, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Turkey, Spain, Russia, and Switzerland.

Here are the top 6 cocoa exports in Ghana.

6. Cocoa Liquor

• Cocoa liquor is imported by manufacturers who make chocolate by mixing it with other ingredients.
• It is mostly imported by countries in which chocolate is manufactured in large quantities.
• This cocoa product is opaque, brown and easy to break.

5. Cocoa Husks, Shells, Skins and Waste

• These are the most recent addition to Ghana’s cocoa exports, having joined the export market in 1989. In 2017, Ghana exported 16,390,600 kg to countries outside Africa.
• Some of the countries that import these products are Italy and Japan.
• Cocoa husks and shells are used to make animal feeds, organic fertilizers for food crops and vegetables, bio-recyclable paper packaging, soft soap, and biofuel.

4. Cocoa Paste

• Cocoa paste is an end result of refining the mixture of cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and other ingredients like sugar and milk. It is produced when this mixture passes through a series of rollers.
• The demand for this cocoa product has been increasing over the years. Currently Ghana exports cocoa paste to Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, USA, Turkey, Russia and other countries.

3. Cocoa Powder

• Cocoa Powder is another leading cocoa export in Ghana. It is exported to Russia, the USA, the Netherlands, etc.
• It comes in two variants – one that is bitter and with no sugar, and the other that has added sugar. Cocoa powder is also used by manufacturers who want to produce cocoa products that have added sugar.
• Cocoa powder from Ghana is unique, with a distinct flavor and aroma.

2. Cocoa Butter

• Cocoa butter is an edible, pale yellow edible vegetable fat that is extracted from the cocoa bean.
• It is used in the manufacture of chocolate, as well as an ingredient for several toiletries or pharmaceutical products.
• Ghana exports its cocoa butter to several countries, including the Netherlands, Turkey, UK, Germany, and France.

1. Cocoa Beans

• Cocoa beans are by far Ghana’s most popular export, making it the world’s largest coffee bean exporter.
• 60% of Ghana’s cocoa beans are sent to the UK. Other destinations include the UK, the USA, and Belgium.

Exporters will find this listing of the top 6 cocoa imports in Ghana useful especially intending to start or start or diversify into an export business.