Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN, has commissioned the Sunshine Chocolate Factory in Alade Idanre, Idanre local government area of the state.
The factory a Public Private Partnership between Ondo State Government and a United States company, SPAGNVOLA CHOCOLATIERS, was established for the purpose of job creation and economic development of the state, using cocoa value-chain.
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Governor Akeredolu said the occasion was remarkable in view of the fact that what his administration inherited from the immediate past government was described by the facility consultant contracted by that same government as not suitable for a chocolate factory as a result of lack of modern equipment which have now been imported by his administration.
Arakunrin Akeredolu said to make the Sunshine Chocolate Factory productive and sustainably profitable, the factory has been extricated from all forms of political control and influences.
To guarantee constant supply of cocoa beans to the factory which has initial processing capacity of about 28 Metric Tons of Cocoa to 2.8Million of Chocolate, Governor Akeredolu said the Oda Cocoa Plantation which is over 1,744 Hectares has been resuscitated and made functional with over 250 Cocoa Farmers upscaling daily production from the farm.
The governor said to consolidate its foothold as the number one cocoa producer in Nigeria, his administration has established a modern cocoa farm at Ijugbere Camp in Ilale, Owo Local Government Area on 8,400Hectatres of land with the capacity to accommodate 2,000 youths who would be resident on the farm with a minimum of four Hectares of Land per youth.
