"I think there can be a side to globalism that is not simply multinational corporations involved in extractive industries scouting the globe to exploit certain countries"

People once chose chocolate based on taste alone, but today’s consumers demand products as ethically sound as they are delicious. Guy Fiorita meets the man behind a revolutionary chocolate producer in Ghana that is putting its people at the centre of its products

Chocolate is one of life’s great pleasures. It forms part of our celebrations, is used as a symbol of our love or gratitude and even helps us fight off depression. Studies have shown that eating even a small amount of chocolate releases certain neurotransmitters that can trigger a feeling of euphoria and a sense of bliss. It’s fitting then that the scientific name for cocoa, chocolate’s main ingredient, is theobroma, or ‘food of the Gods’.

But there is a dark side of chocolate many of us don’t know about. Some cocoa bean farmers aren’t so sweet, especially when it comes to the treatment of their labour force. In 2005 the International Labour Organization reported that as many as 200,000 children were working in the cocoa industry in the Ivory Coast and many of these were the victims of human trafficking and faced slave-like conditions.

Since the Ivory Coast supplies more than a third of the world’s cocoa beans and most of the chocolate produced is made from a mix of beans from numerous exporting countries it is virtually impossible to know if the chocolate you eat today is a product of child slave labour or not.

In 1994, The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company found a solution. It revolutionised the industry by becoming the first company in the world to manufacture ‘single-source’ chocolate, or chocolate made from cocoa beans grown exclusively in a single country of origin. Omanhene purchases all its beans from Ghana, a country that has no history of slave labour practices.

Taking the kids out of the mix was only the first step. Omanhene also manufactures all its products within Ghana, so part of the value added stays in the country, creating wealth and employment for the local community. The company also follows fair labour practices which means its 300 or so employees are among the highest paid in the country; all line workers are unionised, equity shareholders, and receive subsidised housing, as well as free meals, transportation to and from work, and medical care for themselves and their families. Finally, it seems, someone has taken part of the guilt out of this guilty pleasure.

Omanhene is the brainchild of American entrepreneur Steven Wallace whose love affair with Ghana began more than 30 years ago. As a 16-year-old high school student Wallace spent a year as part of an exchange programme, living in the small town of Sunyani with a host family consisting of a father, his three wives and 21 children.

It was an experience that would change his life. Upon returning to the States, Wallace completed his studies, obtaining a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago Law School, and soon after began a promising career as a tax lawyer in Washington DC. But something was missing. “I wanted to go back, with purpose, to a country for which I had great affection. But what exactly could I do? The four main exports were gold, diamonds, cocoa and bauxite. I didn’t have the technical background to open a smelter and the gold and diamond industries were pretty closed worlds. I had no previous experience with making chocolate, but cocoa was something that I could get my hands around. I kept thinking, if Ghana could produce the finest cocoa beans in the world then why couldn’t they produce the finest chocolates?” Four years later, after cutting through miles of red tape and struggling with bureaucracy, Wallace sold his first chocolate bar.

Fittingly the name he chose for the company, Omanhene (pronounced oh-mahn-hee-nee), comes from the Twi language and is the title for the traditional king or chief, the repository of ethical and moral authority in Ghana. The sound moral philosophy that guides the company also benefits the products they make. Omanhene’s chocolates, which are made from beans picked within a few miles of the factory, have a freshness and fruitiness that others can’t imitate. Think of it this way, you wouldn’t ship Italian olives to be pressed in Canada or grapes from France to produce wine in Bali. The same holds true for cocoa beans.

“Although Switzerland, Holland and France produce fine chocolate, these manufacturers have to buy their beans from tropical countries and ship them to their plants in Europe,” says Wallace. “This means a voyage of between four to six weeks with the beans tightly packed in the hold of a ship, often in sweltering conditions. By the time they have reached the processing plant the beans have lost a bit of their magic along the way.” At Omanhene, the cocoa beans are fermented between banana leaves on the forest floor and dried in the sun before being taken to the factory. The entire process, from bean to bar, takes just three to four weeks. Making chocolate this way is not cheap. The company sells two kinds of chocolates, a variety of cocoa drink mixes and baking chocolates, all of which come in at the top end of the luxury chocolate price range.

But, according to Wallace, “people in the market for luxury products today are concerned with how these goods are made. They don’t want to contribute to the exploitation of workers. They understand the product may cost more but they are willing to pay that price.

“I think there can be a side to globalism that is not simply multinational corporations involved in extractive industries scouting the globe to exploit certain countries,’ continues Wallace. “Globalism should be about leveraging your comparative assets. In my opinion Ghana grows the finest cocoa in the world and we are leveraging this fact by trying to make the finest chocolate in the world. Apart from creating a value-added industry in the country, by manufacturing close to the farm we also end up with a better final product.”

Apparently Omanhene’s humanitarian approach also makes sound financial sense. Although they don’t release sales figures, 2009 has been their most profitable year ever. Omanhene chocolates are now found throughout the US; they are selling very well in Japan and the company plans to expand into Europe and Asia so that soon we will all be able to enjoy a luxury product that really does leave a sweet taste in the mouth.