In West Africa – Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana – ADM crushes and exports cocoa and shea nuts.
ADM is a world leader in cocoa processing, and West Africa produces 70 percent of the world’s cocoa beans, feeding the world’s appetite for chocolate.
Most of West Africa’s cocoa is exported, and ADM ships tons of cocoa each year from West Africa to Europe, Asia and the Americas. Some goes to our plants for processing and to create products for the ADM brands Ambrosia®, De Zaan® and Merckens®. The remainder is delivered to food manufacturers for use in bakery and confectionery items, cereals, dairy products and dry mixes.
ADM also has ownership interest in Singapore-based Wilmar International Limited, which has locations in Africa. Wilmar is a large agricultural processing business, and operates palm plantations; crushing facilities for various types of oilseeds; vegetable oil refineries and packaging facilities; plants that produce oleo chemicals, soy proteins and fertilizers; and multiple wheat and rice milling operations.
From Cameroon, ADM ships cocoa powder to Holland and Asia. Together with Olam, a cocoa bean supplier based in Singapore, ADM operates the Usicam plant where we dry, clean and grade cocoa beans.
Our newest project in Cameroon is a refinery for shea nuts. Cameroon occupies part of a belt of shea trees that crosses Africa between the desert to the north and the rainforest to the south. The shea nuts are pressed into butter and oil for cooking or skin care.
In Côte d'Ivoire, ADM operates the Unicao cocoa-processing facility in Abidjan, a cocoa drying plant in San Pedro and a second cocoa drying plant in Abidjan. Cocoa beans from Côte d'Ivoire help create products for the ADM brands Ambrosia®, De Zaan® and Merckens® or are shipped to food manufacturers.
In Ghana, ADM’s most recent project is the construction of a cocoa processing facility in Kumasi, completed in 2009. The new plant is one of Ghana’s largest and a companion to ADM’s cocoa facilities in Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon, as well as those in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
In Ghana, ADM also has a joint venture with Ghana Specialty Fats, which is the largest processor of shea nuts in the country. It crushes the nuts and produces shea oils and butter for large food companies.
We also run a processing plant in Tema for shea nuts and storage facilities in Tamale. We sell shea stearin, a vegetable fat that is an additive for chocolate and pastries, and shea olein for liquid soaps and creams.
