Ghana-based Niche Cocoa opens new facility in the United States
Niche Cocoa, a Ghanaian cocoa processing company, has announced a significant investment in the United States with the opening of a manufacturing facility in Franklin, Wisconsin.
The factory opened at the start of the month to help leverage the sizable American market and its enormous potential to develop both semi-finished and finished cocoa products for the rest of the world.
The project is the largest food and beverage investment in US history by an African company, as well as the largest Ghana foreign direct investment in Wisconsin history.
“Niche Cocoa’s historic investment in Wisconsin is an unmistakable signal to other companies across Africa and around the world — the United States is open for business,” said Marisa Lago, the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.
Based in Tema, Ghana, Niche Cocoa is the largest cocoa processor in the country, the world’s second-largest cocoa producer after Cote d’Ivoire. The company’s North American expansion pioneers a change in the direction of African investment and showcases the rapid growth in African businesses, specifically in Ghana.
“Niche Cocoa Industries Limited (Niche) has established itself as a formidable business in Ghana and with some international customers mainly from extracting high-quality semi-finished products from the cocoa bean,” said Niche founder Edmund Poku.
Niche Cocoa is partnering with The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, a Milwaukee-based company that pioneered production of world-class, single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate manufactured in Ghana. “Together, we’re creating cocoa products and compelling employment in both the US, and Ghana,” said Omahene’s founder, Steve Wallace. “We’re proving that a country’s competitive advantages, paired with strategic global partnerships, lead to winning outcomes in unexpected places. Together, Omanhene and Niche demonstrate the promise of a new globalism where international trade creates jobs and value instead of exploiting vulnerabilities.” State Governor Tony Evers said: “I welcome their investment in our state and the diversity their business adds to our economy.
