GKV investments, producers of AVA virgin coconut oil  with support from HortiFresh under its’ Innovation fund, is expanding the processing capacity and range of products marketed, train staff and provide market opportunities to smallholder farmers.

The company seeks to acquire equipment for processing to expand current capacity of range of products generated and marketed, acquire ISO certification to enhance product quality and competitiveness as well as provide ready market for 95 coconut growers and farmers.

The first tranche disbursement has equipped the company to purchase one phase of a high capacity separator machine for oil extraction with a through put capacity of 900 litres per day from an engineering Company in Italy called Vitone.  The managing Director, Kojo Nunoo, explained that the 50% support for purchasing the equipment has changed business in so many ways and positioned the company on the right ground for export and the ability to meet demand regardless of the volumes. “These strides and milestones are no small feat and one of a kind in the coconut oil business in Ghana”.

In order to feed the purchased equipment to capacity, GKV has launched the “Coconut Innovation Platform” which brought 50 selected coconut farmers together from central and western region under one umbrella to supply raw material for the company. It will also serve as farmers’ needs assessment platform which will help to design tailored trainings and interventions to support farmers to produce to meet the standard and capacity of the company. A memorandum of understanding was signed and presented to the farmers at the launch.

After the launch of the platform, farmers have received periodic trainings on farm pest management, skill on organic and good agricultural practices, provide and distribute quality seedlings as well as provide readily market for harvested coconut to impact on the economic and sustainable development of these farmers.

GKV is currently preparing for the FSSC 22000 v 5 certification to fulfil its premium quality oil facility for the international market. Pre-audit sections have been done by Control Union Ghana to have a holistic gap-analysis report to help prepare the processing facility for the desired certification. Gaps identified are being corrected step by step to help the processing facility meet the FSSC 22000 requirements. The FSSC 22000 will give the company’s product the competitive edge on the European market.