Ondo chocolate company targets $1m revenue

Sunshine Chocolate Factory at Alade Idanre in Ondo State, producers of Idan Premium chocolate bars, says it will generate $1 million revenue yearly when it enters the chocolate market fully.

The company had announced plans to hit European markets from July with its chocolate bars to increase revenue from non-oil export.

The Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Robo Adhuze, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Akure.

Adhuze, who noted that the projection was a “modest one”, stated that if the company was aggressive about the process, it could generate $5 million (about N2.08 billion) revenue in two years.

“We can start a stable forex from the end of this year, if not all the countries that are in our projection, at least if we start with some. So, we hope to start with 50,000 bars and we will be selling for like £3 (N1,700) and that will give us like £150,000 (N81.3 million) in the first quarter.

“And at the end of the day when market opens, we can multiply that, we will be looking at not less than a million to two million in dollars, minimum per annum, but if we are aggressive, we can reach five million dollars in two years.

“It is not much, we have to be modest in our projection. We are not entering a market that is open, we are entering a market with competitors, we are entering a market where they will look at any product from Africa and say what is this?

“So, we are entering through what we call safe channels; diaspora communities abroad like, Ondo State community, Yoruba community and so on.

“After we have secured the confidence of those channels, it is the friends of those channels who would be asking for our products,” he said.

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The managing director said the company is currently producing 600,000 chocolate bars annually apart from other corporate productions.

Adhuze said the company has commenced installation of more equipment to attain a five million chocolate bars production capacity per annum.

He noted that what the company had simply done was to revive what late Chief Obafemi Awolowo wanted to do with Cocoa from the region in those days.

Awolowo, the first Premier of the defunct Western Region, promoted agricultural industrialisation and built Cocoa House, the first sky scrapper in the region at its headquarters, Ibadan, from proceeds of Cocoa sales.

Adhuze, however, appreciated the state government for providing conducive environment to make the dream a reality.

The Star