Kumasi Drinks originated during the making of a documentary about the cocoa industry in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The capital of that region is Kumasi. There, many farmers are totally dependent on the sale of cocoa, but they live below the poverty line. This is why Kumasi Drinks decided to start collecting cocoa fruit juice with a group of farmers to increase the living standard in the region.
The juicy flesh surrounding the cocoa bean is healthy and special. It doesn’t taste like cocoa or chocolate but like a kind of mix of lychee, mango and white peach. Normally it flows away when the cocoa fruit is broken open. For centuries, the industry has only been interested in the beans from which they make chocolate. But the juice is ideal for making extra tasty soft drinks.
With their fresh, novel approach in a cocoa market dominated by major players, Kumasi buys its juice with its technical partner in Ghana directly from farmers. This way, the cocoa farmers receive immediate additional income – up to 30% extra per kg – from selling the pulp and juice byproducts from their cocoa production process they would have typically thrown away.