SECTOR CAPABILITIES - Cocoa Butter from Ghana
High quality cocoa from Ghana available the whole year
Cocoa products from Ghana are produced, processed and exported throughout the whole year. Ghana is one of the largest exporters of cocoa products worldwide, with decades of experience in the production of cocoa. The country remains the best quality bulk cocoa producer by ensuring minimum quality standards, set by Ghana Cocoa Board. These standards exceed the benchmarks set in the international cocoa market for the trade in Good Fermented Cocoa. Therewith, ‘Ghana made’ has been grown as a symbol of quality in the international cocoa industry.
Cocoa butter is one of the value added products within the Ghanaian cocoa sector. It is a pale-yellow, edible vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa bean. The product is mainly used to produce chocolate, but it’s also used as ingredient in ointments, toiletries and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter from Ghana is ensured to have great flavour and aroma.
Ghana develops new standard for sustainable cocoa
Over the past few years Ghana has led the development of a new global standard for sustainable cocoa. This standard has been adopted by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and used internationally to measure the cocoa’s quality level. The new standard was developed through an international project. It supported the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) under the Trade Capacity Building Programme for Ghana, funded by the Switzerland Government (State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO) and the United Nations Industrial Development Cooperation (UNIDO).
The following parts of standards on sustainability and traceability of cocoa were launched Mid 2018
- ISO 34101-1 Requirements for sustainability management systems
- ISO 34101-2 Requirements for performance (Profit, People and Planet related
- ISO 34101-3 Requirements for traceability
The fourth part of the sustainable and traceable cocoa beans standard is in process and concerns the ISO 34101-4, on Requirements for Certification Schemes.
National standards for cocoa reviewed since 2017
Also, four national standards on cocoa have been reviewed. The optimized standards have been prepared and submitted for gazetting and publishing since July 2017. Standards involved include:
- GS CAC RCP 1 – General Principles for Food Hygiene
- GS 547 – Specification for cocoa bean
- GS 741 – Specification for chocolate
- GS 739 – Specification for Cocoa Powders (Cocoas) and Dry Mixture of cocoa and sugars
Reasons to buy
Buying cocoa butter from Ghana gives you several great advantages, such as:
- General high quality of Ghanaian cocoa, because of
- the higher-than-average fat content
- Low levels of bean defects, resulting in favourable flavour
- Low levels of debris
- Certainty of consistent and reliable shipments and documents via the Cocoa Marketing Company
- Constant options to buy our cocoa butter, because of the large production of cocoa in Ghana
- Cocoa butter of natural colour, because of the natural drying systems (sun drying) used in the country
- Quality control laboratory of Cocobod, has been upgraded to ensure quality bean supply.
Trade performance
Featured exporters

MBOTE VENTURES
Mbote Ventures is an agro based venture based in Accra, Ghana. The company aims to build a strong market position within the Global market by gaining strong relationships with small holder farmers. Its passion is sourcing out high quality ingredients i.e. agro produce from smallholder farmers, thereby helping them achieve…Show: MBOTE VENTURES

Cargill Ghana Limited
Cargill has a long, rich heritage, starting with W. W. Cargill’s first grain storage facility on the American frontier in 1865. The company has grown to become one of the largest, privately-owned businesses.Cargill has been sourcing cocoa from Ghana for over 40 years and in 2008 opened its state-of-the-art cocoa…Show: Cargill Ghana Limited

Barry Callebaut Ghana Limited
The Barry Callebaut Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products. The Barry Callebaut Group has been producing chocolate and cocoa products for over 175 years. They are the reference for innovation in the industry providing a comprehensive range of services in the fields of product…Show: Barry Callebaut Ghana Limited
Useful links
Ghana Cocoa Board
The Ghana Cocoa Board is the main government agency responsible for the development of the cocoa industry in the country. It encourages the production and processing of cocoa (and coffee) and promotes scientific research for ongoing improvements. Find more information on their website.