According to the company, its misery began in 2019 following the government’s introduction of duty discount on benchmark value policy.

The policy, it explained, made it difficult for it to compete with imported products from Asia which are way cheaper.

“There has been a huge increase in cheap imported products into the country. This has made it difficult for us to sell in the local market because imported oils from Asia are selling far cheaper than our product,” The company lamented in a letter addressed to the Food and Allied Workers Association (FAWU).

The problem, Wilmar adds, also follows the regulation of oil price by Ivory Coast in their market, setting the price far lower than the prevailing price of local producers in Ghana.

The development, it indicated, is making it uncompetitive in the market, adding sales have slumped significantly.

“To make matters worse, our export market, which has been complementing our local sales, has also been hit by non-availability of vessels to transport the product to our main export market – Senegal due to the Covid situation.

“These compounded problems resulted in our worse sales in December 2021 and the low sales continuing into January 2022,” the statement added.

The situation, it explains, has resulted in no space for storage due to low sales and is compelled to take a temporary shutdown of their oil-producing plant to monitor the situation.

They are also asking for the suspension of the collective bargaining agreement, CBA, negotiations, as they do not have the environment to negotiate in good faith.

The company, however, notified that if the situation persists, the business shall face imminent closure.

Read the statement below:

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According to him, most African countries still import crude palm oil and rice from foreign countries meanwhile, Ghana has the resources to provide raw materials that will cause a decline in the importation of these products.

In an interview on Citi TV, Mr Wiafe bemoaned on how Ghanaians focus only on the proceeds of exporting cocoa beans and gold but not necessarily other avenues that will equally provide jobs and revenue to improve the standard of living of the youth.

Talking about crude oil production, Mr Wiafe disclosed that Wilmar Africa Limited, Wilmar Africa Limited, producers of Frytol Vegetable Oil and Fortune Rice, currently has the capacity to refine oil and palm products in Ghana.

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“In Ghana I think it’s a cliché that we produce lots of cocoa than we take it to other countries to add value then we bring it back for higher cost of imports. Fortunately, Wilmar Ghana we have the capacity to refine oil and palm currently. We are able to only source about 30 per cent of plant needs in Ghana and we provide offtake opportunity to anyone involved oil palm – all you need to do is to mill it then we buy,” he said.

“Because of inadequate capacity in Ghana we have to import crude palm oil from Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia to keep our plant running. There is a big opportunity if the country wants to discuss this and that will create jobs,” he added.

According to Mr Wiafe, there are some investors who have given out their plantations to Wilmar Africa Limited in the bid to make profit on shares.

“We have encourage people to put crude oil palm… to put our expertise to place, if you go to the Ghana Armed Forces in Takoradi, we have helped them to cultivate some plantation. Some have given their lands out and we are developing them to give them their desired shares,” the managing director of Wilmar Africa said.

Patrick Sarpong, the Head of Trade Marketing for the company, elaborating on the need for the promo, said they wanted to award customers who were doing well by patronising more of their products in the Ashanti Region.

We promised them last year that whatever they will buy from us, we would make a list and give them vouchers at Melcom but after six months those who did so well are still being rewarded.

According to the Head of Marketing for Wilmar Africa, Patience Mpere, this is the third year the company decided to reward customers who are profit-driven and poised to support the growing brand in Kumasi.

She explained that in the previous years some of the winners won tickets to Dubai and Malaysia but due to the emergence of Covid-19 the event couldn’t come on as promised but customers were rewarded duly.

This is the third time we are doing this. First time we sent them to Dubai and the next was Malaysia… we didn’t do it last year due to Covid-19 but even that we gave them money and other rewards, she explained.

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In the interview with one of the winners, Mr John Amoako Manu, who won the ultimate prize of a car, he thanked Wilmar Africa for developing such an initiative.

Mr Manu told Adom TV that he and his team planned to win the ultimate prize at all costs since they believe in the cemented business of Wilmar Africa Limited.

We decided that no matter what we would win the award and through God’s grace we have won it. We focused solely on selling the Frytol oil. We would love to thank them for being able to bring such a business. Finally, they have delivered, he said.

One of the key distributors, who also formed part of the winners, Olivia Adu Nketia, asked Wilmar Africa to continue with the initiative since it propels their profits and market share.

They should continue to do it because it will help them and their sales. Everyone wants their work to be profitable and this is a good thing, she added.

Wilmar Africa Limited is one of the leading fast-moving consumer goods companies committed to the processing, packaging, and distribution of a wide variety of consumer products and brands such as Frytol, Fortune, Viking, Alife, and Jamaa for local and international markets.