KOTA SAMARAHAN: Turn cocoa beans into high value-added products like cocoa powder, chocolate powder and chocolate bars.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Willie Mongin threw members of cooperatives in the state this challenge on Monday (Dec 21).
He was speaking at a press conference after officiating at a Cocoa Quality Improvement Course at the Malaysian Cocoa Board Research and Development Centre here on Monday (Dec 21).
He pointed out that the prices of cocoa beans at the moment were low.
“But if processed into chocolate and cocoa powder, the prices will be higher,” he said.
Willie pointed out that a 200-gm chocolate bar and cocoa powder could be very expensive.
“Who has the highest profits? The people who provide the added value,” he said.
He explained that besides cocoa beans, all commodities including rubber could also be turned into high value-added products.
“If we do not engage in these value-added activities, we will be left behind. So, we need to involve our cooperative members in cocoa processing and so on.
” At the Research and Development Centre, besides doing research, we provide facilities, guidance and assistance,” he said.
Willie urged farmers to be involved in the cocoa industry because of its lucrative downstream activities.
