Cameroonian cocoa processor Neo Industry is expanding its Fondjomoko factory in the Western Highlands to triple grinding capacity. Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana visited the site, accompanied by senior officials from the ministries of Commerce and Industry.
Industrial director Samuel Boog said the expansion will double cleaning, roasting and grinding lines, raise hydraulic presses from two to four, and increase packaging lines to six from four. The company will also add a cold storage unit, a refining line, a solar field and a biomass boiler.
Neo Industry plans to boost annual bean processing from 32,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes. The extension will also improve product quality and broaden its range, which includes cocoa butter, cocoa mass, cocoa powder and cocoa cake.
Construction is scheduled to finish in December 2025, with an inauguration in the first half of 2026. The company expects to create 700 jobs through the project.
Minister Atangana cautioned that bean supply remains a key risk. “I say this to planters: you will need to run to find the beans. You will need to find these 80,000 tonnes,” he said. Cameroon produced more than 300,000 tonnes of cocoa in the last season, of which around 100,000 tonnes were processed locally.
If production remains stable, Neo Industry alone could account for 80% of local processing, moving Cameroon closer to its goal of grinding 40% – 50% of national output – about 150,000 tonnes. “This extension will completely transform Cameroon’s cocoa industry,” the minister said.
Neo Industry sources beans from all major production basins, with branches in Bafia, Ntui, Mbalmayo, Ebolowa, Obala, Bafang, Mbanga, Yaoundé and Yokadouma. As part of its social responsibility policy, the company has taken in 100 children of farmers from Mbalmayo and Sa’a at its plant.
Businessman Emmanuel Neossi founded Neo Industry in 2015. The Fondjomoko plant became operational in 2019 after an investment of CFA54 billion (US$86 million), including CFA1 billion in government support. Construction employed 800 workers, and the factory currently has 279 full-time staff.
