Forbes Chocolate Wins 2018 Food Quality & Safety Award

Forbes Chocolate relies on Ghana for supplying a large portion of its cocoa. In return, the company wanted to financially support a program in the West African country that was both empowering and sustainable. To that end, starting in 2015, Forbes embraced The Akumanyi Foundation, Columbus, Ohio, a non-profit organization founded in 2014 that works to help at-risk youth and vulnerable women.

Among other endeavors, The Akumanyi Foundation has established a vocational program that teaches Ghanaian women and children trade skills, such as sewing, which is an integral part of the community and economy, as well as other vocational training. This foundation has built a school, a bakery, and set up several volunteer service opportunities in which U.S. college students can participate.

This program is running in Bawjiase and Swedru, towns in Ghana’s Central Region. Currently the program is sponsoring some 21 women. The enrollees train with a seamstress five days a week for three years. At the end of the three years, participants are equipped with the skills necessary to open their own seamstress businesses.

“We feel it is very important to give back to the communities that contribute so much to what we do,” Minnich says. “We hope to improve the lives of the people in Ghana by working with an organization that uses the money efficiently to make a direct and lasting impact on improving their quality of life.”

Closer to home, Forbes Chocolate is proud to offer a variety of endowments and annual scholarships at several U.S. universities to support education in the agricultural and dairy industries. There are three endowments at Ohio State University and one each at the University of Georgia, North Carolina State University, Pennsylvania State University, and West Virginia University. Scholarships go to Cumberland University, Louisiana Tech University, and South Dakota State University.

Company Pride

Waters reports that 2017 saw an overall increase in sales (by poundage) of 5 percent for the year, with seven months reporting higher numbers than those of 2016. “This trend has continued into 2018 with the first quarter showing a strong growth in sales,” she notes.

“The long-standing relationships that we have maintained with both our customers and our suppliers are evident by our accomplishments as a raw material supplier,” Sandy relates. “We continue to grow along with our customers and we base our success on their achievements. Implementing new technologies, updating old machinery, attending training sessions, and advancing food safety and quality policies are just a few of the measures that we utilize here to preserve our customer commitments.”

Sandy is quick to credit each member of the Forbes team for their contributions to the company’s success, which includes the recent Food Quality & Safety Award.

“Forbes Chocolate is a company made up of a small, family-like workforce,” Geringer adds. “At Forbes Chocolate we all take pride in offering quality products, while staying current with food industry regulations and satisfying customer expectations. Due to the dedication of our staff, we have been producing a high-quality, safe product for well over a hundred years, and with the leadership we have in place we will continue to do so for the next hundred. We all work hard day in and day out to produce a product that lives up to our company motto: Quality First.”