Where to Buy Chocolate in Ghana: A Directory in Progress

Kingsbite for sale from a traffic vendor in Airport
 

It’s been just over a year since I moved to Accra, and since the publication of Cocoa, my book on industry politics. I’ve spent that time re-immersing in Ghana’s cocoa environment—a lot has changed since the last time I lived here, in 2005. For one thing, it’s not just about cocoa anymore: now, there is chocolate.

Until just a few years ago, the only domestic chocolate in Ghana was the suite of Golden Tree brands, whose most well known bar is the iconic milk chocolate Kingsbite. Today, there are at least a dozen chocolate makers and confectioners operating commercially, with more in early stages, and many more making other cocoa-based products, including for beauty and healthcare. Even as I write this, the inaugural meeting of the Cocoa & Artisanal Chocolate Association of Ghana is happening not far from where I live in Accra. There are enough cocoa and chocolate craftspeople and entrepreneurs here now to assert some collective power and shape the sector to their mutual benefit.

Greetings from Ghana chocolate bars and Ohene Cocoa products at Wild Gecko Handicrafts

After witnessing this new energy around chocolate, I started teaching a series called “Discover Chocolate”—three classes on cocoa and chocolate history, manufacture, politics, and more. I devote a class to Ghana, from its long and dedicated history of growing cocoa to its new chocolate. In Made in Ghana, as it’s called, we taste about a dozen locally made cocoa and chocolate products. One of the hardest things about prepping for that session is deciding what not to include in the tasting. There are now way more bars and confections than we can realistically taste in an hour!

Another challenge is procuring the chocolate and confections. There is not enough of a cool chain in Ghana to make distribution easy for any chocolate company, large or small, and it’s difficult to store chocolate here. I keep a lot of chocolate at home for classes, tastings, sharing with friends, and eating. I have a dedicated cool room where the air conditioning unit stays on all the time, at a temperature that keeps chocolate stable. Last week, I returned home from a ten-day trip abroad and discovered that, at some point, the air conditioner had failed. I’m not sure when it happened, but even if it had been just an hour before I walked in the door, the damage would have been done. It doesn’t take long in Accra’s 90 degree temperatures for chocolate to become a sticky glop. My bags and boxes and packages of it, which I cooled back down as soon as possible, are of course now all bloomed, and some are in funny post-melt shapes. For me, this is inconvenient and a little sad. If I was selling chocolate as my business, it would have been disastrous.

Maison Kwame chocolate bars and confections at Orchidea Flowers & Café

As such, chocolate makers and confectioners in Accra do not make a lot of stock available on retail shelves, and only in a few places that can keep the ambient temperature more or less constant. Instead, many fulfill orders on demand, with direct delivery or pickup service. With no central location for finding these chocolates, I decided to create a directory. Having taught my Made in Ghana class now several times, I’ve figured out where and how to buy most local chocolates and cocoa products, and have shared what I know below.

Retail spaces in Accra come and go, and stocks are not always consistent. This list is as current as I can make it for May 2019, and I will update it when I can. For this directory, I’ve only included edibles—I’ll tackle health and beauty products in a future post. So that you can find your favorite chocolate, or see what’s available where you shop, I’ve organized first by brand and then by retail location.

Enjoy your Made in Ghana chocolate!

 

Where to by chocolate: By brand

Chocolate aisle at Koala in Airport
Chocolate bars and confections in MaxMart 37

Where to buy chocolate: By location

  • Koala Supermarkets: Koala markets carry an extensive chocolate selection, including Niche, Cadbury, Mars, and Nestlé products.
  • MaxMart 37: One of Accra’s largest selections of international and domestic chocolate brands, including Golden Tree, Omama Royal, Niche, Green & Blacks, Waitrose, Ferrero, Cadbury, Mars, Belle France, Ritter Sport, Kinder, Nestlé, Toblerone, and more.
  • Mint Club: This fitness club at Meridian Apartments hosts a quarterly market, and several local cocoa and chocolate companies have a table there. Market schedule available on the Mint Club Facebook page.
  • Orchidea Flowers & Café: An elegant café serving chocolate cookies and cakes, as well as Maison Kwame bars and confections.
  • Shell filling stations: Pretty much every Shell station shop carries Golden Tree chocolate, and other brands too, including Niche.
  • Simply Healthy: Along with an excellent range of organic foods, this shop in Labone is the only place I know in Accra that sells Divine Chocolate and Seed & Bean.
  • Wild Gecko Handicrafts: One of the best places to shop for crafts in Accra, Wild Gecko carries Greetings from Ghana bars, Midunu confections (mixed box of 6), and Ohene Cocoa products. The Wild Gecko shop in Kotoka airport also has ’57 Chocolate (and Cocoa!)
  • W.E.B. DuBois Centre: On the first Saturday of every month, the DuBois Centre hosts a large craft and food market, and several local companies usually have a table there, including Bon Chocolat Ghana, Cocoaline, and Ohene Cocoa. There is a smaller market on third Saturdays. Ohene Cocoa has a table near the Sowgreen organic farm stand nearly every Saturday.
Orchidea Flowers & Café—lovely for enjoying chocolate & cake!

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