Africa: the white man wants to fool you

The German company Gepa (Gepa.de) like so many other European companies argues on its websites that producing chocolate not in the countries in which cocoa beans are grown on two main lines:

1.) Chocolate must be cooled to preserve its quality which would increase the price of the product and

2.) on the grounds of environmental protection issues.

For e.g. Shoprite in Ghana 80% of the chocolates come from abroad mainly from Europe. They come in cooled containers with a serious carbon footprint.

Before turning into chocolate the cocoa beans were shipped to Europe with a serious carbon footprint. Transport costs and customs duties were added to it. When the finished product reaches Ghana additional transport and customs duties are added. Not to mention another serious carbon footprint.

Labor costs in e.g. Ghana are much cheaper than in Germany. While a worker in a Ghanaian chocolate factory costs around 10 to 15 times less than his counterpart in Europe this can compensate more than enough for the costs of cooling (besides other lower production costs).

So, what are the real motives of such companies that claim to be Fair Companies? They do not want chocolate to be produced in or South America as they don't want to close their businesses in Europe and lay off workers. These "good people" must not be trusted but questioned.

ns: don't get fooled by the white man! Wake up!