The Kumasi branch of the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), Ghana’s chocolate producers, has run out of supply of the product ahead of this year’s Valentine’s Day (chocolate day).
Both retailers and chocolate consumers in the metropolis have expressed disappointment at the timing of the shortage.
February 14, every year, Saint Valentine’s Day, has been declared a “national chocolate day” by the Ghana government, to highlight the nutritional benefits of cocoa, an important cash crop, and to encourage people to consume more of cocoa products locally.
Mrs. Philomena Osei, a provisions’ shop owner at Adum, in an interview said, the shortage was going to badly affect her business.
She indicated that, chocolate and other related products including pebbles produced by the CPC tend to be in high demand during the month of February, and that was when they got good sales.
Miss Agatha Agyeiwaa, a vendor at the railway station, described the lack of supply as a huge blow.
The Ashanti Regional Representative of the Company, Mr. Augustine Apom, confirmed that the company’s factory was experiencing some technical challenges, and that had affected the production.
He said it was unfortunate that this should happen at the peak season, when demand for their products is high.
Mr. Apom said the limited stock had already been distributed to the retailers, but admitted this was not enough.
He however gave the assurance that, the company’s engineers were working around the clock to fix the problem and expressed the hope that the situation would improve in the coming days – to address the shortfall.
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Source: GNA