Twellium Industrial Company, West Africa’s fastest-growing manufacturing company, has partnered with Sidel to develop a new ultra-modern facility in Kumasi, Ghana – a greenfield project housing two complete PET packaging lines for still and carbonated beverages.
Twellium Industrial Company (Twellium) specialises in the production of non-alcoholic beverages, including its flagship product, Verna Mineral Water. The company also manufactures signature brands such as Rush Energy Drink, Original American Cola, Planet Range, and Bubble Up Lemon Lime under licence from Monarch Beverage Company.
Twellium already operates two well-established production facilities in Accra, Ghana and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, and has now commissioned its third ultra-modern site in Kumasi, Ghana.
The Kumasi site began as a greenfield project, with Twellium constructing it entirely from the ground up. This included all civil works, infrastructure, and utilities, with Sidel assisting in the installation of two cutting-edge processing and packaging lines.
Cutting-edge PET packaging lines
At the Kumasi site, diversity in manufacturing—utilising different sizes of PET bottles, as well as producing a variety of beverages including water, carbonated soft drinks (CSD), non-carbonated drinks, and energy drinks—was crucial to its development. This enabled flexibility in production and catered to broad market demand.
Twellium’s Kumasi site now features Africa’s fastest complete PET water line, with a production output of 80,000 bottles per hour, utilising Sidel’s signature Combi solution which combines blow moulding, filling, and capping into a single, compact, and integrated solution.
The set-up also includes a state-of-the-art water treatment room and automated cleaning-in-place (CIP) system, ensuring the highest levels of hygiene and food safety.
Sidel has also installed a complete line for carbonated soft drinks (CSD) at the Kumasi plant. Capable of bottling at speeds of 65,000 bottles per hour, this high-speed line with a Sidel Combi was the perfect solution for Twellium to meet the region’s booming CSD market.
As part of the project, Sidel also installed a customised EvoDECO Roll-Fed labeller featuring an integrated system which enables the application of QR codes on the bottle cap, allowing maximum traceability and meeting Ghanaian regulations.
Leader in Ghana’s thriving beverage industry
“Sidel’s complete PET packaging lines for Twellium ensure that beverage production volume meets affordability, allowing us to keep up with the constant increase in demand. This partnership not only drives efficiency but also creates more regional job opportunities, reinforcing Twellium as a proud leader in Ghana’s thriving beverage industry,” comments Ali Ajami, Twellium Marketing Director.
Koa took the next step to scale its impact in the cocoa sector. On 25 August 2023, the Ghanaian-Swiss start-up inaugurated its second cocoa fruit factory in Ghana, together with 600 guests, the Ministry of Trade & Industry, and the Embassy of Switzerland. The new facility will allow Koa to scale its production capabilities tenfold and thereby allow the company to cooperate with an additional 10,000 cocoa smallholders in Ghana.
Koa is transforming the cocoa industry through its innovative upcycling of cocoa fruits. The independent Ghanaian-Swiss company is the first company in West Africa to have unlocked a new value chain around the overlooked cocoa pulp. Working closely with cocoa smallholders, Koa utilises more parts of the cocoa fruit and increases cocoa farmers’ income while, at the same time, creating innovative and sustainable ingredients for chocolate, confectionery, ice cream, and beverages.
Since its foundation in 2017, Koa has upcycled 800 tonnes of cocoa fruit that was, until that day, overlooked in the cocoa industry. 2,200 cocoa farmers benefitted within the first five years, earning a total of GHS 2.3 million (USD 300,000). To scale its business and meet the demand for cocoa fruit products, the company built a second factory, located in Akim Achiase in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Daniel Otu, Production & Operations Director at Koa, explained that “the new factory will allow the company to grow in line with the demand from our customers. The factory will generate 250 new jobs in rural Ghana and we will extend our cocoa fruit upcycling to an additional 10,000 cocoa farmers.”
The inauguration of the cocoa fruit factory on Friday, 25 August 2023, marked the beginning of a new era for Koa. It highlights the contribution of the company towards sustainable growth in Ghana and making a positive impact on the cocoa industry. In his welcome address during the event, Koa’s Managing Director and Co-Founder, Anian Schreiber, highlighted how the new factory serves as a milestone in the company’s ambition to positively transform the cocoa value chain. “By supplying products for both the Ghanaian and international market, we will add value to the farmers, the communities, and all people who work around here. This factory will connect Achiase and Ghana to the world,” Anian Schreiber said.
Inaugurating the factory on behalf of Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina T. Hammond, noted, “as a government, we believe that prosperity for all is achievable through industrial transformation that is inclusive and sustainable that also ensures the highest standards of food safety to guarantee significant market access for products wholly or substantially produced in Ghana.”
Dr. Simone Haeberli, Deputy Head of Mission & Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Ghana, Togo and Benin, called Koa “a leader on this journey” and concluded: “What Koa is doing here is exactly what we were hoping to see. This makes us proud.”
About Koa
The Swiss-Ghanaian start-up Koa transforms the cocoa industry by upcycling parts of the cocoa fruit that are usually overlooked. With a mission to empower farmers to earn an additional income and make a positive impact on the planet, Koa is redefining sustainability and social responsibility in the industry. As a certified B Corp™, the company integrates its mission into all business activities, focusing on the Triple Bottom Line: ‘People, Planet and Profit’. Today, 100 employees in Ghana and Switzerland dedicate themselves to making an impact by creating ingredients for gastronomy and the food and beverage industry. www.koa-impact.com
