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In the east African nation, chocolate is a luxury product bought by people in the medium and upper income bracket/FILE

Kenya

Uganda takes on the chocolate market

The duo, friends since age eight, are happy with the local reception to their products. But they were “amazed” when they began receiving orders for both cocoa beans and butter from a Swiss factory about two months ago.

“We realised that what we were doing is not as ordinary as maybe we thought it was,” said Okuye, adding they’ve also sold to South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and Britain.

A businessman in Ghana, the world’s second-largest cocoa exporter, has also been lapping up their treats.

“People are eager to know this kind of chocolate coming from Uganda,” said Okuye, adding their products were “more organic” than most chocolate as they had a higher cocoa content.

“Ghana’s interest was so amazing, they were asking even to be agents.”

– Cracking the domestic market –

Uganda is said to have about 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of land under cocoa cultivation, mostly in the country’s west and centre, but its fortunes in the industry have fluctuated over time as the government has focused more on coffee.

The cocoa used in Pink Foods’ chocolate is grown by over 100 farmers on a 286 hectare plantation in Mukono, situated about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Kampala, which is owned by Sembuya’s family and is the biggest single-owned estate in Africa.

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