How Swedish packaging giant’s collaborative approach transforms local producers into competitive manufacturers while driving Africa’s circular economy ambitions
The Daily Milk product launch in Accra on Thursday represents far more than another beverage entering Ghana’s crowded retail market. It signals a fundamental shift in how international technology leaders engage with African manufacturers, moving from transactional supply relationships toward deep collaborative partnerships that transfer capabilities, build local capacity, and position developing nations to capture value that historically flowed overseas.
Tetra Pak’s partnership with Niche Cocoa Industry exemplifies this evolution. The Swedish multinational has invested not just packaging materials but technical expertise, processing knowledge, and innovation resources that enable local manufacturers to compete against imported products dominating supermarket shelves across West Africa.
This matters profoundly for Ghana’s economic transformation. The country ranks as the world’s second largest cocoa producer yet struggles to move up the value chain, with vast majority of production exported as raw materials for processing in Europe, North America and Asia. Such partnerships demonstrate pathways for capturing domestic value through manufacturing finished consumer goods rather than surrendering margins to foreign processors.
Sustainability Driving Competitive Advantage
Tetra Pak’s approach in Africa centers on sustainability commitments extending beyond corporate messaging into measurable outcomes backed by substantial capital investments. In South Africa, the company achieved 26 percent collection rate for post consumer Liquid Board Packaging in 2024, tripling the eight percent rate from 2023. The recycling rate similarly leapt to 24 percent, demonstrating tangible progress toward the company’s 40 percent recycling target by 2030.
These improvements reflect over R54 million invested in infrastructure and processes required to efficiently manage and recycle cartons across South Africa, plus R20 million invested in 2024 alone for collection systems enhancement. That capital commitment signals confidence in Africa’s long term growth trajectory despite short term economic volatility affecting many markets from Nigeria to Kenya.
The company’s sustainability credentials carry weight beyond marketing claims. Tetra Pak earned Gold Medal from EcoVadis in 2024, placing in the top one percent of companies assessed in its category and among the top five percent of all companies evaluated globally. EcoVadis evaluates sustainability performance across four pillars: Environment, Labour and Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.
In November 2024, Tetra Pak and South African partner Cycliq launched Africa’s first locally manufactured E pallet crafted from advanced blend of high density plastic and poly aluminium material derived from recycled beverage cartons. This breakthrough product, result of four year collaboration, showcases how recycled packaging materials transform into durable industrial products, closing loops in circular economy models that African nations increasingly embrace.
Klaus Plenge, Managing Director at Tetra Pak South Africa, articulated the innovation’s significance clearly. “By reusing materials from recycled beverage cartons, we’re delivering a product that is not only highly durable but also plays a role in reducing waste.” The E pallet initiative demonstrates how partnerships between multinational technology providers and local manufacturers can pioneer solutions transferable across African markets facing similar waste management challenges.
Carton packages feature six layer structure with responsibly sourced paperboard comprising over 70 percent of package weight. Polymers protect against moisture and bond layers, while thin aluminum foil preserves food without refrigeration. The company continuously innovates with plant based and recycled polymers to enhance circularity while meeting food safety standards that tropical climates demand.
In partnership with South African retailers and milk producers, Tetra Pak introduced plant based closures made from polyethylene derived from sugar cane, increasing renewable content of total package to greater than 80 percent. These innovations support customers’ sustainability strategies in reducing climate impact while responding to growing consumer preferences for environmentally responsible products, particularly among younger urban demographics.
The company’s converting factory in Pinetown currently uses renewable credits, while Johannesburg and Cape Town offices transition to 100 percent renewable solar energy in phases. Tetra Pak aims to field test aseptic packages made fully from renewable sources, demonstrating commitment extending through entire operations rather than limited to product specifications or marketing narratives.
Educational initiatives complement technical innovations. The 2024 Recycle Carton School Competition, in partnership with Orange Grove Dairy, RFG Foods, and Woodlands Dairy, reached over 300,000 students across 320 schools in Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape. By engaging young people in recycling behaviors early, Tetra Pak builds long term culture shifts necessary for circular economy success that regulatory frameworks alone cannot achieve.
West Africa’s Manufacturing Transformation
Tetra Pak West Africa, led by Managing Director Haithem Debbiche from the company’s Nigerian base, operates across six processing categories: dairy, cheese, ice cream, beverage, prepared food, and powder. The company has maintained presence in Nigeria for over 50 years, building relationships and demonstrating commitment that survives political transitions, economic crises, currency devaluations, and market volatility that discourage less patient investors seeking quick returns.
At September 2024’s Propak Nigeria exhibition, Debbiche articulated Tetra Pak’s vision with clarity that resonated across industry stakeholders. “Our vision is to make food safe and available everywhere,” he stated. “As a leader in food packaging, Tetra Pak is committed to using renewable, responsibly sourced materials.” That commitment extends to partnering with local recycler Wecyclers to collect and process used cartons, ensuring they’re recycled rather than discarded improperly in landfills or waterways.
The West African market presents distinct challenges absent in developed economies. Infrastructure gaps, inconsistent cold chain systems, energy costs that spike unpredictably, and distribution networks favoring established players with deep retail relationships all complicate manufacturing operations. Yet these same challenges create opportunities for technology providers who can deliver solutions addressing specific pain points local manufacturers face daily.
Aseptic processing technology proves transformative in tropical climates where continuous refrigeration proves unreliable or prohibitively expensive for distributors operating outside major urban centers. By enabling products to achieve extended shelf life without cold storage, Tetra Pak’s systems fundamentally alter economics for dairy and beverage manufacturers. Products previously limited to short distribution radii within refrigerated zones can reach distant rural markets, expanding commercial viability and justifying larger production investments that create employment.
Nigeria’s dairy market size reached USD 2.86 billion in 2024, growing at 4.87 percent CAGR with projections to hit USD 3.63 billion by 2029. The market shows compound annual growth driven by increasing population, rising disposable incomes particularly among middle class households, and urbanization trends pushing demand for packaged dairy products. Within this landscape, flavoured milk represents one of fastest growing sub segments as consumers seek convenient nutrition options for children.
Livelihoods of 30 percent of Ghana’s population depend upon the cocoa sector, making it the country’s most important agricultural export commodity and vital contributor to national development goals. Yet Ghana’s cocoa processing capacity remains severely constrained relative to production volumes that could support robust domestic manufacturing ecosystem.
The parastatal Cocoa Board (Cocobod) continues as major actor with control throughout the Ghanaian cocoa value chain, setting prices and minimum standards, and licensing buying companies. While this provides stability that prevents extreme price volatility, it also creates challenges for local processors who must purchase beans from Cocobod in United States dollars, creating foreign exchange constraints that multinational processors with overseas parent companies can more easily navigate through hedging strategies.
Ghana aims to move up the cocoa value chain and increase share of local processing, with Cocobod supporting these efforts through financial incentives and subsidies targeting domestic manufacturers. However, capacity for local processing remains limited, with just small percentage of low grade beans given to local processors for intermediary products while vast majority gets exported for both primary and secondary processing in Europe where centuries old chocolate making traditions dominate consumer preferences.
This represents precisely the challenge Tetra Pak’s partnership model addresses systematically. By providing not just packaging materials but comprehensive technical support spanning equipment selection, engineering specifications, installation oversight, design optimization, project management, and ongoing services including maintenance training, the company reduces complexity for local manufacturers like Niche Cocoa who seek expansion beyond core competencies into new product categories requiring different technical capabilities.
Mr. Edmund Poku, Managing Director of Niche Cocoa, has built formidable reputation for transforming Ghana from raw cocoa exporter into value added processor since founding the company in 2011 with vision that many industry observers initially dismissed as overly ambitious. The partnership with Tetra Pak provides technical capabilities needed to execute expansion visions across diversified product lines, moving systematically up the value chain from semi finished cocoa products toward consumer goods capturing higher margins while creating skilled employment opportunities.
Ghana’s cocoa industry generates annual quantities of 858,720 tons of cocoa pod husk and 180,000 tons of cocoa bean shell as processing residues that traditionally get discarded as agricultural waste. These materials represent untapped resources. Research demonstrates numerous extractable compounds with bioactivity for applications in plant based functional food and animal feed additives, representing additional value creation opportunities that innovative companies could exploit through proper extraction technologies.
The development and commercialization of residue extractive technology offers promising approaches for valorizing cocoa processing residues that currently offer minimal economic return. Advanced extraction methods including microwave assisted extraction, ultrasonic assisted extraction, subcritical water extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction improve efficiency while reducing environmental impact compared to traditional solvent based approaches that generate hazardous waste streams.
Ghana exported USD 4.76 million worth of cocoa shells, husks, skins, and waste in 2021, ranking as fourth largest global exporter of these residual materials. The Netherlands, Brazil, and China represent highest importers of cocoa residue from Ghana, using these materials for animal feed, garden mulch, and increasingly for extraction of valuable compounds. This suggests significant abundance of materials that could support domestic value added industries rather than export for processing elsewhere at minimal returns.
Economic Implications Across Africa
The broader implications extend well beyond individual product launches or single company partnerships. Sub Saharan Africa’s dairy industry reached USD 18.3 billion in 2023, with expectations to grow at 6.8 percent annually through 2033 as rising incomes and population growth drive consumption of protein rich foods. South Africa dominates the regional market, accounting for significant share of formal dairy processing capacity concentrated in Gauteng and Western Cape provinces.
The global dairy food market reached USD 722.14 billion in 2021, projected to hit USD 956.26 billion by 2025 at seven percent CAGR driven by population growth and dietary shifts toward dairy consumption in developing markets. Africa’s dairy industry shows immense untapped potential despite persistent challenges including low productivity per cow, fluctuating production due to climate variability, inconsistent quality from informal supply chains, high costs, and value chain inefficiencies that prevent smallholder farmers from accessing profitable markets.
Tanzania’s dairy sector produces approximately 2.5 billion litres annually from estimated 25 million cattle, yet only 10 percent reaches formal processing channels where quality standards get enforced. The informal sector dominates, with raw milk sold directly from producers to consumers without pasteurization or safety testing. This presents both challenge and opportunity for technology providers who can help formalize supply chains and improve product safety through proper processing infrastructure investments.
Ethiopia maintains Africa’s largest cattle population at over 65 million head, yet milk production per animal remains among world’s lowest at just 1.7 litres per cow daily compared to 25 litres daily in developed dairy economies. Climate variability, poor genetics from unimproved breeds, inadequate nutrition from rain fed pastures, and animal health challenges constrain productivity significantly. Investments in processing infrastructure and cold chain logistics could unlock significant value from this massive resource base that remains largely underutilized.
Morocco’s dairy market reached USD 2.1 billion in 2023, driven by government initiatives promoting domestic milk production and processing through subsidies and technical support programs. The country has successfully developed export oriented dairy industry, with processed products reaching markets across West Africa and Middle East. This demonstrates pathways for African nations to move beyond import dependence toward regional export competitiveness that generates foreign exchange and creates employment.
What distinguishes Tetra Pak’s approach from traditional supplier relationships centers on depth of engagement throughout entire product development cycles rather than merely fulfilling purchase orders. The Daily Milk partnership began with innovation workshops where Tetra Pak technical teams collaborated with Niche Cocoa marketing staff, moving through ideation sessions, concept development phases, package design direction, and full scale production planning with multiple iteration cycles incorporating consumer feedback.
This co creation model invests substantial time and expertise before any packaging materials get sold or production equipment gets installed and commissioned. For Tetra Pak, it builds loyalty and demonstrates value beyond commodity supply that competitors offering lower prices cannot match. For local manufacturers, it provides access to technical capabilities that would take years and millions of dollars to develop independently through trial and error.
Tetra Pak’s processing equipment portfolio spans evaporators for concentrating liquids, heat exchangers for temperature control, aseptic systems for sterilization, separators for fat standardization, homogenizers for emulsion stability, conveyors for material handling, film wrappers for secondary packaging, and cap applicators for final sealing. This comprehensive offering enables manufacturers to source complete production lines from single partner rather than coordinating multiple equipment suppliers with incompatible specifications, streamlining project management and ensuring component compatibility throughout operations.
The company operates globally with significant presence across African markets including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, and increasingly in East African nations like Rwanda and Uganda where dairy sectors show promising growth trajectories. Each market presents unique regulatory environments, consumer preferences shaped by local culinary traditions, infrastructure conditions varying dramatically between urban and rural areas, and competitive dynamics requiring localized approaches while leveraging global technical expertise and supply chain capabilities that multinational scale enables.
Success in transforming Ghana’s manufacturing sector requires addressing persistent structural challenges beyond any single company’s capacity to resolve through private initiatives alone. Capital access remains constrained, with local processors unable to secure financing on terms allowing competition with multinational corporations backed by overseas parent companies offering implicit guarantees. Infrastructure gaps including unreliable electricity forcing expensive diesel generator backup, inadequate transportation networks increasing logistics costs, and port congestion adding delays all reduce competitiveness against imported alternatives.
Distribution systems favor established brands with deep retail relationships built over decades and promotional budgets dwarfing what local manufacturers can afford for marketing and in store activation. Consumer habits prove sticky, with brand loyalties developed over generations difficult to displace even when local alternatives match or exceed quality standards through superior freshness. Regulatory frameworks sometimes inadvertently disadvantage local processors through requirements easier for large organizations with dedicated compliance departments to satisfy than smaller manufacturers lacking specialized expertise.
These systemic issues require collaborative solutions involving government policymakers setting enabling regulatory frameworks, industry associations coordinating collective action, financial institutions developing appropriate lending products, technology providers offering accessible solutions, and manufacturers themselves investing in capability development. Tetra Pak’s approach of patient capital, long term relationship building spanning decades rather than quarterly earnings cycles, and comprehensive technical support provides one model. But broader ecosystem development remains necessary for Ghana to achieve manufacturing transformation ambitions at scale required for meaningful economic impact that creates thousands of jobs.
Whether Daily Milk achieves commercial success depends partly on factors outside Tetra Pak’s direct control, including marketing execution that builds brand awareness, distribution effectiveness reaching fragmented retail channels, pricing strategies balancing affordability with profitability, and consumer acceptance in market segments loyal to established brands. Ghana’s beverage market has seen numerous product launches promising to transform local manufacturing but struggling to compete against established brands with deeper pockets enabling aggressive promotional spending and stronger distribution networks penetrating even remote rural areas.
Yet Niche Cocoa’s track record suggests this isn’t just another ambitious launch destined to disappoint investors and fade into obscurity. The company won Presidential National Award for Exporter of the Year three consecutive years between 2013 and 2015, demonstrating consistent execution and quality standards meeting international requirements for export markets. Its installed processing capacity of 60,000 metric tons annually makes it Ghana’s largest fully integrated cocoa processor, with operations spanning from bean sourcing through quality control, primary processing, and finished product manufacturing under single management structure ensuring coordination.
The partnership between Tetra Pak and Niche Cocoa could become template others follow as Ghana’s food and beverage sector evolves from import dependence toward domestic manufacturing competitiveness. Local manufacturers need technical expertise accumulated over decades, processing technology meeting international safety standards, and quality assurance systems that global partners provide through knowledge transfer. International companies seek growth markets where demographic trends favor long term expansion and local production platforms reducing logistics costs and tariff barriers while building relationships with emerging middle class consumers.
When these interests align through genuine collaborative relationships rather than exploitative extraction benefiting only foreign partners, outcomes benefit both parties while contributing to broader economic development that lifts communities. For Ghana, success transforming cocoa and other agricultural commodities into finished consumer products requires capital for infrastructure investments, technology enabling competitive manufacturing, market development building consumer awareness, and sustained commitment from private sector players and government policymakers maintaining enabling policies through political transitions.
The Daily Milk launch and broader Tetra Pak partnership represent steps toward that larger ambition, demonstrating how international expertise combines with local entrepreneurship to create new possibilities previously constrained by technical limitations. As Mr. Haithem Debbiche, Managing Director of Tetra Pak West Africa, observed at the product launch, the initiative isn’t just about introducing new beverage to market where numerous alternatives already compete. It’s about redefining how Ghana thinks about flavour preferences, nutrition priorities, and packaging innovations in rapidly evolving consumer landscape while building domestic capacity to compete globally rather than accepting permanent role as raw material exporter. That vision, executed consistently across multiple partnerships and markets with patient capital supporting long term capability building, could genuinely reshape West Africa’s manufacturing future and capture value currently flowing overseas to enrich foreign shareholders.
