“Becoming the Giants” of Cocoa Processing — The Ambition of Two Ivorian Twins

In their factory, where impressive machines buzz as they produce chocolate bars and spreads, Ivorian twins Fousseni and Alahassane Diakité dream of becoming “giants of cocoa processing.”

Côte d’Ivoire, where the presidential election is being held on Saturday, is the world’s largest cocoa producer — yet the country processes barely 40% of its production locally, with the rest exported abroad.

The 33-year-old twins opened their factory this August in their hometown, Divo, about 200 kilometers from Abidjan, in a region that largely depends on cocoa.

Inside the facility, cocoa beans stored in jute sacks are roasted to bring out their aroma, shelled, and ground in different rooms filled with the intoxicating scent of chocolate.

The factory currently has a processing capacity of 36,000 tons, with a target of 80,000 tons. By comparison, major international players like Cargill (USA), Barry Callebaut (Switzerland), and Olam (Singapore) each process between 100,000 and 200,000 tons of cocoa per year in Côte d’Ivoire.

Their added value, according to them, lies in “the quality of our products and services” — and their personal story.

Sons of a cocoa farmer, “we are the pure products of Ivorian cocoa,” says Fousseni proudly, explaining that they are now living their dream.

“We were sure that what we were doing wasn’t just for us, but to inspire future generations as well,” he adds.

 

Competitive Prices

A few years after earning their high school diplomas, the brothers created a union of cooperatives that now brings together over 4,000 producers.

They later launched a first company that uses the non-edible parts of cocoa pods to make products for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, such as cocoa butter.

A second company was then founded to process cocoa into food products like chocolate and spreads.

Meanwhile, Alahassane earned a degree in business management and strategy in Abidjan and is currently studying at HEC Paris, while Fousseni has focused on practical training in agroforestry and agronomy. “We complement each other,” Alahassane says with a smile.

While their cosmetic materials are exported “wherever there’s demand,” their edible chocolate products are sold in Côte d’Ivoire — at prices they want to keep competitive.

In local stores, most chocolate bars — often from European brands — cost between 2,500 and 4,000 CFA francs (about €3.80 to €6), whereas the Diakité brothers’ bars sell for 1,200 CFA francs (€1.80). Their small jar of chocolate spread costs an unbeatable 100 CFA francs (€0.15).

And as global demand grows for ethical and traceable products, “all our production is traceable,” says Alahassane. His brother adds that the factory’s machines are powered by renewable energy.

 

Creating Jobs

Cocoa farming supports around 5 million jobs in Côte d’Ivoire — roughly one-sixth of the population — in a sector where the farmgate price is set by the state, currently at a record 2,800 CFA francs per kilo (€4.26).

A few kilometers from Divo, in a shaded plantation carpeted with cocoa leaves, farmer Kanga Prudence N’Guessan cuts open yellow pods with his machete.

“Our wish as producers is to stop sending our cocoa abroad, to Western countries for example,” he says. “When the processing is done over there, the products come back two or three times more expensive.”

“I personally love chocolate,” he adds, though chocolate consumption is still not a strong habit among Ivorians.

Another grower, Harouna Ouattara, 49, shares the same view: “Local processing is still insufficient,” he says.

“The first obstacle to cocoa processing is financing,” explains Fousseni Diakité. The factory cost nearly €50 million, the entrepreneurs say, without disclosing the source of the funding.

The second challenge, they add, is finding qualified labor.

Even so, the twins proudly note that their factory has already created 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, mostly for local residents.

Technical positions are filled by young people trained in major Ivorian cities. Salimata Ouattara, a 35-year-old chemist who studied in San Pedro, says she’s proud to “help local youth who have little knowledge about industrialization.”