Chocolate is a Spirit, not a product
Chocolate (especially with 50% or more cocoa in the cocoa mass) is the only product in the world that, by itself, makes a human happy. What no other natural or human-made product can achieve, chocolate made from real cocoa achieves with ease.
The art of excellence and profit boosting is not by producing fancy chocolate products from real cocoa, grown in labs by doubling the cocoa DNA, made from roasted oats, sunflower seeds or grape seeds, but letting the spirit speak to the consumers.
Established companies like milka/Mondelez, Ritter Sport, Cadbury, Lindt, Haloren Kugeln, Ferrero, Mars, Nestlé, etc. produce chocolate products of second, third or fourth grade using old or older cocoa beans instead of right from the tree. Their marketing strategies are an impressive testimony of intellect but a failure to understand the spirit behind chocolate.
Like a good pastor who is in the spirit delivering his sermon and blessings to his congregation for healing and a better life, Ghana as a future chocolate producer must go beyond the production of chocolate as a naked product dressed well. From 2027, President John Dramani Mahama wants 50% of Ghana's cocoa to be produced in the country (up to 400.000 tons) and by 2030 100% (up to 800.000) to be processed into chocolate products. Made in Ghana chocolate stands in fierce competition to the chocolate brands already in the markets of Europe, the USA, Asia, Russia, the Arab world and South America. Intellectual marketing campaigns will find it hard to compete with established marketing campaigns.
When the spirits speak, consumers will buy. Ghana: let the Spirit speak for you!
PD Dipl.-Pol. Karl-Heinz Heerde (Political Scientist and Historian, Hamburg University 1980-1985), married to Alberta Heerde born Mensah, Ashanti from Kumasi with Ewe roots from Volta Region, Ghana, Entrepreneur and Author of several novels, the new constitution draft for Ghana and various Articles.
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