Garoua: Day 1
The National Cocoa and Coffee Board is in Garoua today.
At 08:00 this morning, Shalom City Hotel in Garoua opened its doors to Hotel and Restaurant owners who registered for the free workshop organized by the National Cocoa and Coffee Board (NCCB).
This initiative is in line with the Republic of Cameroon’s goal of promoting the consumption of local produce. Encouraging the transformation of our raw materials especially agricultural products is key on the government’s agenda.
The NCCB therefore since the last couple of months has engaged in an intense campaign on training the hospitality industry on:
- Virtues of coffee
- Brewing methods of coffee
- The types of coffee drinks (hot, cold, sweet and not so sweet)
- The best ways to conserve coffee for effective results.
Key on this nationwide journey has also been the identifying and showcasing of chocolate manufacturers in Cameroon who use our own very Cameroon cocoa to produce tasty snacks.
It has been noticed over the past decades that we export green beans (coffee) and cocoa pods (cocoa) at very low rates, only to import at a later time expensive finished products (ground roasted coffee, espresso capsules and various cocoa based snacks.
The Question Is: Can we transform this products locally?
The Answer: Yes!
Cameroon currently has over 20 coffee brands and over 8 chocolate brands. All made in Cameroon. This is the destination we are headed to. A time when we consume what we make. Improving the quality of our transformation is key on the NCCB’s agenda hence this intense nationwide tour.
The workshop is a 2 day training workshop that runs from 08:00 to 15:00 daily where participants learn the proper method of making good coffee so true lovers of coffee can come once and stay glued to these places. Our goal is to get Cameroon Coffee to be known and enjoyed by all especially citizens of Cameroon. It kicks of with a word of opening from the General Manager of the NCCB where he encourages all participants to learn keenly and ask all the possible questions as these NCCB baristas have been trained extremely well over the years in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.
Courtesy visits were made this morning to Mr. Jean Abate EDI’I – Governor of the North Region of Cameroon and Mr. Oumarou Hamam WABI – the Senior Divisional Officer of the Benoue Region.
Coincidentally, both see the same vision and totally agree with the NCCB’s leadership of promoting Cameroon cocoa and coffee cultivators and committed to accompany the NCCB in measures to enhance the local consumption of good finished products in this region.
The North region of Cameroon may have soil not conducive for growing coffee but it definitely has an eager population to consume especially good coffee at least four times a day.
Mr. WABI, the Senior Divisional Officer of the Benoue Region tasked Mr. Ndoping – General Manager of NCCB to think about opening an office in this region to give marketers an avenue to come to for direction. A request Mr. General Manager promised to look into in the very near future.
Present during these visits was:
Mr. Michael NDOPING – General Manager of the NCCB
Mr. Abdoulaye NANA – Assistant General Manager of the NCCB
Mr. Gilbert WANGBITCHIN – Director of Promotion & International Cooperation
The Regional Delegate of Communication of the Region
The Representative of the Regional Delegate of Trade