Prince Boakye, the Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has assured supermarkets of quality made in Ghana goods. According to him, government is taking necessary steps to help increase the stock of various made in Ghana goods.
Mr. Boakye noted that although supermarket is not under compulsion to sell indigenous products, the Ministry will encourage them to do so.
He stressed on the fact that the Ministry and other stakeholders will help to improve the quality of local goods.
“Through the One District, One Factory project, we are ensuring that every product that comes out of the project has been duly certified by the Ghana Standards Authority. Just to ensure that they are fit for purpose in terms of quality and standards. For this reason, some of the supermarkets will be assured that these are quality products that they can stock in their supermarkets.
“Most of these supermarkets are privately owned. For which reason, nobody through law can compel a private entity to stock made in Ghana products. What we can do is to engage them and get them to appreciate the quality of the local goods”.
Konfidant’s survey on Made-in-Ghana goods
International business advisory firm, Konfidant’s latest research suggests that, locally manufactured goods are struggling to make it to supermarkets.
The research conducted by Konfidant’s also showed that this is, however, an improvement on the 2019 survey when only 18% of goods surveyed were Ghanaian products.
The worst-performing categories are biscuits and confectionaries (6% MIG), noodles and pasta (6%) and utensils and cutlery (7% MIG).
The research also noted that food products dominate the 19 categories in which goods are visible in the supermarkets.
It however, noted that despite the performance of these dominant food product categories, it is still not good enough.
“The research also revealed some disturbing trends in the following products. Only 2% of jams and marmalades on the shelves are Made-In-Ghana. [This] is worrying given that 58% of Fresh Fruits on the shelves are Made-In-Ghana”.
It noted that policymakers and key stakeholders must review current efforts being made to increase shelf presence of made-in-Ghana goods.
According to the research firm, government needs to improve the overall competitiveness of made-in-Ghana products. Local small producers will need support to make their products more competitive in quality, standards certifications, branding, pricing and financing.
Konfidant also suggested innovative financing options by financial institutions and the supermarkets. This, could provide accounts receivable financing solutions that can assist small suppliers to comfortably adjust to the long payment periods of the supermarkets.
Certifying indigenous products
Meanwhile, the Director of Communications at Melcom Group of Companies, Godwin Avenogbo, has disclosed that local producers to get their products registered.
“The FDA must approve the product you want to sell at Melcom. If you don’t have that, we can’t afford to sell any local product here. So, documentation to us is very critical. The goods we sell here must be high-quality products. So, we are not going to say that because it’s made-in-Ghana, we’ll accept just anything. Entry is difficult but if you meet the requirements, it’s very easy”.
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