(Business in Cameroon) - Société industrielle des cacaos (Sic Cacaos), the Cameroonian subsidiary of the Swiss agro-foods firm, Barry Callebaut, the market leader in cocoa bean processing in Cameroon, only bought 23,979 tonnes of cocoa beans (out of the 25,000 tonnes bought by local grinders for that period) up to the end of May 2015. This was revealed by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (ONCC). These purchases are lower than the 30,025 tonnes bought by Sic Cacaos for the same period last year.

Barry Callebaut’s underformance in Cameroon is due to the slowdown in its activities this year due to the dismanteling and sale of its processing lines as well as the setting-up of its new production chain only weeks ago.

According to the company, the new acquisition should help to increase its production capacity from 32,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes, which is around 25% of national production, against the current 15%.