Choco Togo

Choco Togo is a Togolese bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer organized as a cooperative. It was established in March 2014 by Togolese entrepreneurs who had participated in an international youth development and cooperative-training program and later received specialist instruction in chocolate making in Sicily, Italy. The founders sought to create a locally made chocolate brand using cocoa grown in Togo, rather than exporting the country's agricultural output without domestic processing. The cooperative emerged from a European Union-supported project launched in 2013 under the name “Fair, Young, Sustainable, Inclusive, and Cooperative.” Sixty young people from Togo received training in entrepreneurship and cooperative organization through the Enfant-Food-Développement association, with support involving Côte d'Ivoire, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Six participants were selected for advanced training in Sicily, where they studied cocoa processing, chocolate production, fair-trade principles, tourism, and electronic commerce. After returning home, they found that industrial chocolate processing had largely disappeared from Togo since the colonial period and that cocoa farming communities had limited familiarity with chocolate as a finished product. They consequently formed Choco Togo around a “Made in Togo” proposition. In its early period, Choco Togo was financed by its founders and operated with equipment that was less capable than the machinery available during their Italian training. The cooperative's position improved after it received prize money from several entrepreneurial and agricultural competitions in 2015. That year it also organized what was described as Togo's first chocolate fair and obtained an order for 4,000 bars from the Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy. Choco Togo's supply chain connects cocoa farmers, rural processors, and the cooperative's urban production facilities. It worked with the Federation of Unions of Coffee-Cocoa Producers to identify an organically certified domestic cocoa source. A producer representing approximately 1,500 smallholder farmers in Akébou Prefecture was selected. Initial processing is carried out by about forty women in the Kpalimé area, including sorting, roasting, shelling, and grinding. The cocoa powder is then transported to Lomé, where it is refined into chocolate paste, tempered, and molded into bars. The brand's chocolate is designed for the hot Togolese climate. Its relatively rough texture gives the bars resistance to melting, with reported stability at temperatures of up to 35 °C (95 °F). This characteristic makes the products practical for market-stall sales in a country where temperatures commonly reach the low thirties Celsius. Most products are sold domestically at accessible prices, while some sales have reached international purchasers. Choco Togo has also supplied Asky Airlines and has been associated with an export of 2.2 tonnes of cocoa beans to Japan. Beyond chocolate manufacturing, the cooperative has pursued community development through Chocoland, a project using mutual savings and microcredit mechanisms to support a cocoa-growing community in Danyigan, in southwest Togo. In 2018, it stated an ambition to help establish a health center in the village, with the aim of addressing maternal and infant health challenges. Choco Togo is also affiliated with the Association of Coffee-Cocoa Processors in Togo, which operates within the country's wider coffee-and-cocoa interprofessional structure. Its brand identity combines local sourcing, cooperative ownership, youth entrepreneurship, fair-trade production, and climate-suitable product design.

Choco Togo originated in a European Union-supported youth and cooperative-development project begun in Togo in 2013. The project was designed to promote cooperative organization, inclusion, sustainability, and entrepreneurship among young people. Sixty Togolese participants were trained by the Enfant-Food-Développement association with international support involving Côte d'Ivoire, the Czech Republic, and Italy. Six participants subsequently traveled to Sicily for specialized instruction in chocolate production, cocoa processing, fair trade, tourism, and e-commerce. When the trainees returned to Togo, they identified an opportunity to build a domestic chocolate industry. Cocoa was grown in the country, but locally processed chocolate production had not been practiced on a meaningful scale since the colonial period. The founders therefore established the Choco Togo cooperative in March 2014 with the goal of creating a “Made in Togo” chocolate brand and retaining more value within the country's agricultural economy. The cooperative initially relied on founder funding and lacked the advanced machinery available in Sicily. It worked with equipment that was not ideally suited to producing high-quality chocolate, creating early operational and financial challenges. In 2015, several entrepreneurial and agricultural awards brought prize money that helped ease those constraints. The same year, Choco Togo organized a chocolate fair in Togo and secured a 4,000-bar order from the Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy, giving the young enterprise an early institutional customer. Its operating model links rural cocoa production with processing in Togo. Working with the Federation of Unions of Coffee-Cocoa Producers, Choco Togo identified an organically certified cocoa producer associated with roughly 1,500 smallholder farmers in Akébou Prefecture. Around forty women carry out the initial preparation in the Kpalimé area, including sorting, roasting, shell removal, and grinding. The resulting cocoa powder is sent to Lomé, where it is converted into chocolate paste, tempered, and formed into bars. The resulting bars have a coarse texture that improves their resistance to heat. They can reportedly withstand temperatures of up to 35 °C, making them suitable for sale through open-air stalls and other forms of tropical retail. The cooperative has concentrated on the Togolese market and affordable pricing, while also making selected international sales. Its commercial relationships have included supplying chocolate to Asky Airlines, and the reference material records an export of 2.2 tonnes of cocoa beans to Japan. In addition to bars, Choco Togo makes hot chocolate, chocolate cake, and other confectionery products. Its chocolate is described as fair-trade certified. Choco Togo has also treated cooperative activity as a vehicle for community development. Its Chocoland project uses mutual savings and microcredit to support a cocoa-producing community in Danyigan, a village in southwest Togo. In 2018, the cooperative expressed an objective of helping establish a health center to address maternal and infant mortality. Institutionally, it belongs to the Association of Coffee-Cocoa Processors in Togo, which sits within the Interprofessional Council of the Coffee-Cocoa Subsidiary, a sector body bringing together producers, exporters, buyers, and consumers.

• 2018

  Health-center ambition for Danyigan

  [1]Choco Togoen.wikipedia.org

  Choco Togo reports an objective of supporting construction of a health center in Danyigan through its community-development work.

• 2015

  Awards improve operating capacity

  [1]Choco Togoen.wikipedia.org

  Entrepreneurial and agricultural awards provide prize funding that helps the cooperative address its early equipment and financing limitations.

• 2015

  Chocolate fair and 4,000-bar order

  [1]Choco Togoen.wikipedia.org

  The cooperative organizes an early chocolate fair in Togo and receives a 4,000-bar order from the Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy.

• 2014

  Choco Togo cooperative is established

  [1]Choco Togoen.wikipedia.org

  Six trainees returning from Italy establish Choco Togo in March as a cooperative focused on domestic cocoa processing and locally made chocolate.

• 2013

  International youth cooperative project begins

  [1]Choco Togoen.wikipedia.org

  An EU-supported program trains young Togolese participants in entrepreneurship, cooperative organization, and related skills, leading to advanced chocolate training for a selected group in Sicily.

A locally made, cooperative, fair-trade-oriented chocolate brand that adds value to Togolese cocoa and offers products adapted to tropical retail conditions.

• Chocolate · 2014

  Choco Togo chocolate bars

  The cooperative's principal product is chocolate made from cocoa grown and initially processed in Togo. The bars have a relatively rough texture, a characteristic associated with resistance to melting at temperatures up to approximately 35 °C. This makes them suitable for tropical conditions and for distribution through market stalls. Most bars are sold in Togo at accessible prices, while selected quantities have reached international customers. The chocolate is described as fair-trade certified.

• Chocolate beverage

  Hot chocolate

  Choco Togo extends its cocoa-processing activity beyond molded bars through hot-chocolate products. These offerings use the cooperative's processed cocoa and form part of its broader range of derivative chocolate goods.

• Confectionery

  Chocolate cake and confectionery

  The cooperative also produces chocolate cake and other confectionery items. These products complement the packaged-bar business and allow Choco Togo to use its cocoa and chocolate paste in locally oriented prepared foods.

• 2018Chocoland

  Danyigan, Togo

  Chocoland is a community-development initiative connected with Choco Togo's cooperative model. It uses mutual savings and microcredit mechanisms to support a cocoa-farming community in Danyigan in southwest Togo.

  Outcome. The cooperative identified construction of a health center as a development objective, particularly to help address maternal and infant health needs. Completion is not established in the available material.

  Source

• 2018

  Link chocolate production with rural developmentStrategy

  Background

  The cooperative's activities were connected to cocoa-growing communities whose social infrastructure remained limited.

  Action taken

  Through Chocoland, Choco Togo used mutual savings and microcredit and articulated a goal of supporting a health center in Danyigan.

  Aftermath

  The initiative broadened the brand's role from food manufacturing to cooperative-led community development, although the available source does not confirm completion of the proposed facility.

  Source

• 2015

  Introduce heat-resistant chocolate barsProduct launch

  Background

  Chocolate sold in Togo must withstand warm conditions, including open-air retail environments.

  Action taken

  Choco Togo developed and sold bars with a rougher texture that can reportedly remain stable at temperatures up to 35 °C.

  Aftermath

  The product characteristic became a practical differentiator for affordable domestic distribution in Togo's tropical climate.

  Source

• 2015

  Expand institutional and airline salesStrategy

  Background

  After receiving award funding and establishing local production, the cooperative sought customers beyond ordinary retail.

  Action taken

  It fulfilled a 4,000-bar order for the Ministry of Posts and Digital Economy and supplied chocolate to Asky Airlines.

  Aftermath

  These relationships gave the cooperative additional channels for distributing a locally produced chocolate brand.

  Source

• 2014

  Adopt a domestic bean-to-bar modelStrategy

  Background

  The founders returned from Italian training to a country where cocoa was grown but domestic chocolate processing was limited. They wanted to create a locally recognizable “Made in Togo” product.

  Action taken

  They formed a cooperative to process Togolese cocoa into chocolate in Togo rather than relying solely on the export of raw agricultural materials.

  Aftermath

  The model developed into a supply chain involving smallholder farmers, rural women processors, and final production in Lomé.

  Source

1. 1Choco Togoen.wikipedia.org