Cormart Nigeria Ltd, chemicals and food raw materials company recently announced a partnership agreement with Barry Callebaut to provide bakery solutions and decorations for bakery and pastry makers, especially the Hotel/Restaurant/Café (horeca) food service industry and home-cooking industry in Nigeria.
The partnership between Barry Callebaut, manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products and Cormart will also involve supporting cocoa farmers in the process of cleaning and drying of cocoa beans, to improve the quality of cocoa beans being processed in Nigeria for export purposes and a comprehensive training and capacity building along the horeca value-chain of the Nigerian food service industry.
Johannes Flosbach, the general manager, Cormart Nigeria said the partnership is aimed towards ensuring quality products along the pastry value-chain. “It is with great pride that we formalize this agreement with our partner, Barry Callebaut. Working hand-in-hand, we will strengthen our joint commitment to ensure that top notch chocolate and knowledge will be provided for Nigerian bakers.”
According to Flosbach, Cormart will focus more on advising customers on how to use Callebaut chocolates. “Our biggest customers would be companies that produce chocolate cookies, those that bake wedding cakes and so on, and we would teach them how to make the best use of the different types of chocolates.”
Adriaan Verbeke, MD, Barry Callebaut Nigeria said with the partnership, Callebaut has set up a permanent base in Nigeria. According to him, the company currently source cocoa beans and sell chocolate. “We will continue to develop our activities in this promising country and hope to be able to develop the cocoa and chocolate industry to new levels,” said Verbeke.
Verbeke opined that Callebaut long term objective was to backward integrate to a level where cocoa beans will be sourced and produced locally in Nigeria, however there is still the challenge of getting quality cocoa beans. “When farmers harvest the products, they do most of the bulk of work, which includes the drying of the product after it ferments. They often dry this on the floor and when they do, there are little bits of sand that stick to it and this makes it very difficult to export,” said Verbeke.
Speaking further on the capacity building for local players in the industry, Verbeke said Barry Callebaut will be very supportive of players in the horeca food service industry in providing product application support and trainings. “This is an excellent step to enable us assist our customers accordingly,” he stated.
Felicia Onabanjo, the business unit head for Cormart food and nutrition department, said the partnership with Barry Callebaut will help bridge the gap between a premium chocolate brand and local manufacturers in Nigeria. “The products are used by many professionals for its workability and typical taste, which has remained constant over the decades,” said Onabanjo.
SEYI JOHN SALAU
