‘Dumsor’ is crippling Cocoa Processing Company – MD

The Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) halts productions for at least two days every week due to the persistent power outage, Nana Oduro Owusu, the Managing Director of CPC, said on Monday.

Power outages is also called ‘dumsor’, in the local Akan language meaning, ‘off and on’.

“Whenever there is power cut we stop production, production halts! When the factory is off for about two days, it means stopping production for two days,” he said.

Nana Oduro said a factory like CPC could not be run on generators since cost of diesel to power a generator for its operations was unthinkable.

He said the generator was used to run the office and other small businesses stressing that “but to run all the machines on it, no!”

The MD said the power outage made it difficult for his outfit to stock the factory with the needed amount of chocolate for the National Chocolate Day celebration.

He said even though they could have produced more to be stocked for the occasion, the power outage made it impossible.

CPC, which was established in 1965, has an annual throughput of 64,500 metric tonnes of premium Ghana cocoa beans.

It processes the beans into semi-finished products such as cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa cake and cocoa powder for export.

COC also produces chocolate products including drinking chocolate and spread under the Golden Tree Chocolate brand name.

Source: GNA