Whole milk, bissap and hibiscus

Ghana is – after the Ivory Coast – the second largest raw cocoa producer in the world, the two countries supply a good 70 percent of global demand, a quarter comes from Ghana. However, cocoa accounts for less than two percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product. The range of chocolate in Ghanaian supermarkets is abundant, with all the major international brands on the shelves, many made with cocoa from Ghana.

‘Made in Ghana’, however, is the exception, only the state-owned cocoa company and a small chocolate company near Accra produce local industrial goods.

People in Africa consume less than four percent of the chocolate sold worldwide. But consumer behavior on the continent is changing, in many countries a middle class is growing up that has money, appreciates pleasure and for whom fine chocolate is an affordable form of luxury.

The 57Chocolate sisters want to open up this market. The program currently includes 21 varieties, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white and coffee, sometimes pure, sometimes with sea salt, fresh coconut, almond slivers. The trademark of 57 is Bissap, the hibiscus flavored variety. “Bissap was our favorite drink as children, our mother made it herself for many years and with a lot of effort,” says Kimberley. Today the sisters love green tea, so there has recently been a white chocolate with matcha tea. “Making chocolate allows a lot of creativity,” says Priscilla. “And as a start-up that makes small quantities, it’s easy to experiment with new varieties.”