ADM opened an office in the Republic of Ghana, the world’s second largest producer of cocoa, in 2005, with the aim of exploring cocoa and shea processing opportunities. Today, we play a vital role in adding value to two of the nation’s key crops – cocoa beans and shea nuts – and supplying semi-finished products to customers in the candy, bakery and cosmetics industries.
Our most recent project in Ghana is construction of a cocoa processing facility in Kumasi, scheduled for completion in 2009. The plant will allow ADM to process cocoa beans close to the farmers of the Ashanti region, a traditional area for cocoa production.
The new plant will be one of Ghana’s largest and a companion to ADM’s cocoa facilities in nearby Côte d'Ivoire. Once the plant is completed, ADM will employ approximately 80 people in Ghana.
Shea butter, extracted from the fruit of the shea tree, enjoys wide use in the cosmetics and food industries and as a companion to cocoa butter in markets where its use is permitted in chocolate products.
Ghana Specialty Fats, a joint venture started in 2006 by ADM and Wilmar Holdings, is the largest processor of shea nuts in the country, crushing them to produce shea oils and butter.
Ghana Specialty Fats runs a shea processing plant in Tema and storage facilities in Tamale. They sell shea stearin, a vegetable fat that is an ingredient for confectionary and pastries, and shea olein, which, unlike stearin, is liquid at room temperature and works well for liquid soaps and creams, as well as edible fat.
As part of our commitment to helping communities in Ghana, ADM drilled a well to provide sanitary water and built a washing facility for residents near our Kumasi cocoa plant.
