National Chocolate Day celebrated in Accra

This year’s National Chocolate Day was celebrated in Accra yesterday with a call on operators in the hospitality industry to promote the consumption of cocoa products.

The Minister of Tourism,  Arts and Culture, Mrs Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, who made the call, said increased patronage of cocoa products offered an opportunity to boost the cocoa sector and the economy and provide employment for people.

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) instituted the day in 2005, in partnership with the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the Cocoa Processing Company (CPC), to coincide with Valentine’s Day.

The day is meant to raise awareness of the need for the public to patronise cocoa products as a means of helping generate more revenue for national development and to improve general well-being.

The theme for this year’s edition: "My Chocolate Experience, My Holistic Well-being”, was chosen to drive the consumption of chocolate in the country and the rest of the world.

Tourism

Mrs Oteng-Gyasi expressed the hope that the National Chocolate Day would also increase awareness of the health benefits of consuming chocolate.

"I encourage Ghanaians to patronise made-in-Ghana chocolate and give it out as presents to their loved ones, especially on special occasions such as birthdays," she said.

The minister also urged dealers in cocoa products to explore innovative ways of packaging cocoa products in order to make them internationally appealing and capable of penetrating international markets easily.

"Cocoa is Ghana and Ghana is cocoa. Long live the golden pod and long live Ghana," she said.

Tribute

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr Akwasi Agyeman, paid tribute to the late Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, a former Minister of Tourism, who initiated the National Chocolate Day.

He urged operators in the hospitality industry to serve made-in-Ghana cocoa products to their clientele as their contribution towards the growth of the industry and the nation.

"Let us replace tea and coffee with cocoa," he advised.

Gifts

The Managing Director of CPC, Nana Agyenim Boateng, suggested the use of cocoa-based products as gifts for loved ones.

He said the health benefits of consuming chocolate and cocoa products were enormous.

"If you want to live long, continue to consume cocoa products," he said.

Nana Agyenim Boateng said the CPC was committed to ensuring that the public and indeed all patrons of the company’s products consumed cocoa products that were of the highest quality.

Currently, he said, through the School Feeding Programme, the CPC supplied 650 schools across the country with cocoa products.

The company, he added, had rebranded and introduced 19 more products to its product line, including white chocolates, chocolates with nuts and a mixture of cocoa and coffee.

He said as part of its value addition drive, the CPC had also introduced cocoa spread mixed with tiger nuts and cocoa mixed with cashew nuts.

Celebrating farmers

The Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said celebrating Chocolate Day meant celebrating the cocoa crop and the farmers involved in growing the crop.

Ghana's cocoa, he said, was of the highest premium quality.

He urged parents to give their children chocolate and other cocoa-based products on a daily basis to help them develop intellectually.

Brilliant initiative

The Osu Mantse, Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona VI, said the promotion of the National Chocolate Day was a good initiative and the support ought to be extended to all other goods made in the country.

A citation in honour of the late Mr  Obetsebi-Lamptey was presented to his wife, Mrs Esther Obetsebi-Lamptey.  She will also receive a monthly supply of chocolate products from the CPC.

The Ghana Dance Company entertained patrons on the occasion of the 15th National Chocolate Day with captivating traditional dance performances, while the winner of the 2019 edition of Talented Kids, seven-year-old Nakeeyat Dramani, educated the public on the health benefits that could be derived from consuming cocoa through a poetry recital.

The winners of a photo and art competition organised ahead of the National Chocolate Day celebration received hampers of chocolate products, cash and certificates.