Entrepreneur Ashley Parasram is on a mission to enhance T&T's cocoa industry with the establishment of a state-of-the-art cocoa processing facility on La Reunion Estate in Centeno, Trinidad.
The T&T Fine Cocoa Company's (TTFCC) factory will open next month producing 50 metric tonnes of cocoa products such as liqueur, pastes and commercial chocolates favoured by restaurants and hoteliers. The chocolates, ranging from milk, dark, rum, guava, cashew and scorpion pepper, will be distributed internationally by the company's British retailing partner Artisan du Chocolat which has outlets in the UK, Ireland, Saudi Arabia and Japan.
In 2016/7, additional stores will be opened in the Middle East and Far East.At the launch of the TTFCC in Port-of-Spain, Parasram said the project began three years ago. He expects his investment to increase to $8 million by 2017. The venture is a private/public partnership between the Ministry of Food Production, the Cocoa Development Company (CDC) of T&T and the Cocoa Research Centre at UWI.
Dr Rikhi Permanand of the Economic Development Board (EDB), said the modern cocoa processing facility will transform the local cocoa industry from rapid decline to one with increased revenue earning potential.
Government approval received for the research conducted by the EDB in 2012 resulted in the repeal of the Cocoa Board Act and saw establishment of the CDC to oversee the cocoa industry and develop it by increasing downstream products and exports while partnering with international companies for research and development.
T&T is one of just 17 countries worldwide, according to the International Cocoa Agreement 1993, that produces the highest quality cocoa bean strains known as fine/flavour cocoa. From a collection of more than 100 hybrids, this country currently grows 11 select native varieties of Trinitario cocoa which is sought after by some of the world's most prestigious gourmet chocolatiers.
The modernisation of T&T's cocoa industry is also founded in pioneering research conducted by UWI's Cocoa Research Centre, custodian of the largest and most diverse cocoa collection in the world, the International Cocoa Genebank.TTFCC's focus is currently on regional and European Union markets.
Parasram credited local investment promotion agency InvesTT for playing a key role in the establishment of the factory. The agency was involved at a very early stage in the project and provided all the necessary services such as finding the right people in the right stakeholder organisations, providing relevant commercial information and assisting in the overall navigation of the local business environment.
"It's been a very rewarding experience in Trinidad and Tobago" Parasram said."The level of collaboration with our local partners has been excellent and everyone has been open and transparent about the objectives of the revitalising of the cocoa industry," he said.