Homefoods has come a long way since its official registration in 1995.  The company started out with one thousand British Pounds and 4 people, including CEO, Felicia Twumasi. This small, yet hard working group shipped its first 100 cartons of palm oil in 1997. A year later, the group shipped their first 20 ft container.

Today, Homefoods employs 23 people and ships 6-8, 20 ft containers per month.

At the close of 2006, Homefoods grossed a net 1.4 million dollars. The success of the company did not go without recognition. This past July, Ms. Twumasi traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to accept the New Millennium Golden Award for Quality and Business Prestige. This award is presented to individual companies who have increasingly shown productive quality values, leading high customer satisfaction into specific regions of the world. Homefoods also received an accompanying certificate for TQCS -  Top Quality Customer Satisfaction Standards. Ms. Twumasi stood out from a room full of male recipients, as she was one of only two women, and sole African receiving the award. And just this past month, Homefoods was recognized with a Silver Award for Crude Palm Oil at the 18th National Awards for Export Achievement in Accra, Ghana.

When asked how she got the company to where it is today, Ms. Twumasi replied "Hard work, good marketing strategy, and good personal relations with our customers, builds commitment to build partnerships." She also went on to explain that bigger and better plans were in the works for the company. For starters, the Homefoods operations will relocate to Tema, an industrial city just a little over 30 km outside of Accra, sometime in 2008. The new location will allow for more production and provide the space and facilities to diversify. For Ms. Twumasi, the ultimate goal is the creation of an entire industrial food village. Its only a matter of time and adequate resources before this vision, becomes a reality.

—Belen S. Mulugeta

Source: ACCESS! For African Business Women in International Trade

I’m lucky enough to work in the food sector. I get to eat for a living. Well, admittedly, my job involves a lot more than chewing down, but eating is certainly the most fun part.

As any West African will attest, the region is full of unique and exciting flavors. I was talking with a Ghanaian friend recently, and the love for his country’s traditional cuisine was palpable. As he described dish after dish, he relished each word as though he could taste each ingredient, and a smile danced across his face.

During the last two weeks of September, the Trade Hub brought in two U.S.-based consultants from Talier Trading Group to assist Ghanaian companies who are working to export some of this joy to the rest of the world in the form of ready-to-eat soups and instant jollof rice and gari. The two-week workshop covered the essentials of specialty foods today.

Generally, there aren’t many companies manufacturing easy-to-use products inspired by local cuisine, because there is not necessarily a local market. As my friend said, “I would never buy ready-to-eat groundnut (peanut) soup because I can make it myself.”

In the U.S. and Europe, however, the only way that most consumers will ever experience groundnut soup is through a ready-eat soup produced by a company in Ghana. Getting a food from the kitchen to market takes time and effort from start to finish.

"The first recipe was more scientific" explained Adjoa Boateng, of Homefoods. "The second one was from my mother. It's very homemade, more personal than scientific. And it's delicious!"

The new sauce will have its international debut at Anuga, the international food show in Germany, Oct. 10-14, where Adjoa will present it personally.

The companies continued to tweak their recipes during the workshop, and the eating continued! Major ingredients were changed, some products were scrapped, and after a few days, the recipes were finalized.

The product commercialization process, however, incorporates more than the food itself. What’s a good product without great packaging? After all, consumers rarely get to taste products in the supermarket; they have to make a purchasing decision based on looks alone. During the workshop, we spent many hours with packaging suppliers, searching for options that would both preserve the product (a two-year shelf-life is critical), and attractively present the product. Quality packaging is certainly a challenge for food companies in West Africa, but we found what we needed. The companies’ graphic designers played a critical role. They had the heavy task of making an unknown product such as nkrakra (light soup) enticing to consumers. And since Ghanaian food is not at all represented in mainstream supermarkets, we weren’t just branding nkrakra, we were branding Ghanaian cuisine. Jim and Raphaelle guided the process with their knowledge of international, particularly American, consumer preferences, while the companies created a vision that could encompass a whole range of uniquely Ghanaian products. Finally, a great product with beautifully branded packaging won’t sell without a competitive price. Throughout the project, the pricing model was continually evaluated to ensure that the products would be affordable for consumers while still providing adequate profit margins for the manufacturers. As Jim often reminded the companies, they will be expected, in the U.S. market, to fund promotions of their products by discounting the retail price several times a year. The initial price must be high enough to absorb these discounts.

Product, packaging, branding and price. After 10 days of work, Homefoods with the help of Jim and Raphaelle, completed a range of five finished products. The only steps left are nutritional analysis and full-scale production.

Source: West African Trade Hub

The University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) has held a business plan workshop for women entrepreneurs as part of their international outreach initiative.

The seminar “Starting and Managing Small Business”, sponsored by Homefoods Processing and Cannery Limited, took place at the African Regent Hotel in May, 2009.

The Director of the SBDC, Mr. Robert Patrick Andoh, arrived in Ghana to undertake a feasibility study on the possibility of offering business service and support to small businesses. There is particular interest in business owned by women and the youth.

Mr. Robert Andoh graduated from St. Augustine’s College, Cape Coast, Xavier and Loyola Universities in the United States and has been working with the University of Georgia SBDC for twenty years.

“Its time to empower the youth and women in the area of entrepreneurship. As small business businesses become the engine of economic growth, the SBDC seeks to expand its expertise to support developing countries" he said.

The CEO of Homefoods, Madam Felicia Twumasi, who has herself grown a small business into a highly successful food processing company, feels that this is her company’s chance to give back.

She said “We need more women in industry. Successful women impact communities. It’s a privilege for us to be associated with the University of Georgia in supporting small businesses and particularly those run by women”.

The women at the very first workshop will form the core group of women entrepreneurs to be called GWEN – Ghana Women Entrepreneurs.

Source: Business & Financial Times

We have again gained acknowledgement for our excellent performance in the export of palm oil. On Saturday 11th October, Ms Adjoa Kusiwaa Boateng, Head of Human Capital, for Homefoods Ghana graciously accepted the National Export Achievement Award 2008 in the gold category at an impressive ceremony held at the Banquet Hall, Accra.

Homefoods Ghana has already won several prestigious international awards namely The Otherways, Top Quality Customer Satisfaction Aptitude Seal for High Quality Performance, Golden Award for Business Prestige, Geneva. Best Customer Satisfaction, Switzerland 2007. National Export Achievement Award (Silver Award Winner 2007).

”This is a great honour for the Homefoods team. We do our best and it’s wonderful to be recognized for excellence. We are even more excited about what the future holds for Homefoods, particularly with regards our wonderful new brands of food products.”

— Ms. Boateng

HOMEFOODS CALENDER GIRLS AND TOTS

The sky looked uncertain that morning. At some point, the rain dropped through the sparkling sunlight. For some reason, I still felt great about the day. This was despite the fact that we were running forty five minutes late. The rentals company left one of the canopy legs and had to go back to collect it.

Whilst I attempted shortening a shaggy bob, Steve our photographer called to say his car had broken down.

“Call me back” I said, still absolutely pretty optimistic.

I arrived at 12.59 and there were already cars parked at the Owls Nest School grounds.

“Gosh, my models were on time.” So was Steve.

The children were already clambering on and off the slides. Hagar’s children nestled themselves into a little house and a little princess stood in the grey coloured plastic castle waiting for her prince in a white Ferrari (horses are too slow). A slightly soft football rolled back and forth on the huge lawn.

We tried calling our other photographer Nana Kofi, he was supposed to be doing the candid camera bits. No matter, Steve began to shoot.

I sat on a bright blue mat, touching up my calendar girls with chocolate brown face powder and glittery lipsticks. I gave Akosua a soft look, she likes to look natural. Golda perked up with a dash of bright red lipstick and brown eye shadow with a slight sheen.

Anagha was being rather coy and Akosua’s toddler, Nana Kofi ran away from Steve whilst looking back to make sure he could still see him. Nana Kofi turned up and we knew the day was complete. We got some absolutely beautiful shots. Ama was in the castle and Pappoe was asking to visit. Anagha eventually smiled brightly at her mom. Pamela lay flat on her back with Tristan and Timothy, their curly heads touching.

Lunch was served, after all that is what Homefoods is about. Of course, there was red red using the Homefoods palm oil on the menu. How could there not be?

— Franka Maria Andoh
PR Executive for Homefoods Ghana
The PR Journal – October 11th 2008

Last year, Homefoods Processing and Cannery Limited launched a new range of gourmet food products for their discerning health conscious clientele. The new products include a delicious range of Roiboos Spreads, Syrups, ‘Extra Fruity’ Jams and Jellies and spices that line up on the shelves of Shoprite supermarket. The company is broadening its product range into Fruit Juices and Snacks.

Eleven years on and the company has evolved from the kitchen table to the filling plant with trading partners in South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Homefoods now exports into Europe, the Republic of South Africa and the United States. A consistent commitment to excellence has garnered several prestigious local and international awards.

Over a three year period, the company’s purchase of gari in the Eastern Region, specifically Adeiso reached 3,000,000 USD. This created financial empowerment for many locals allowing them to better cater for their families.

A classic business success story, Homefoods Processing and Cannery Limited was started by Felicia Twumasi. A product of Holy Child School, Cape Coast, UST and Harvard Business School, she began working from her kitchen table with the vision to create, build and establish a food processing company. The company’s mission was to focus attention and creativity on basic food ingredients, fusing flavours and spices from around the world and providing related services for a growing ethnic foods market abroad. It took one inspiring idea of exporting a product that was non perishable but essential to cooking. This product was palm oil, the rich red oil harvested from fruits of the palm tree. The first Homefoods container left the shores of Ghana to Europe in 1997.

Felicia Twumasi sums up her success simply. Apart from braving the challenges that face any business, she salutes the Homefoods team. “To be truly successful one needs good people,” she says. “As CEO of Homefoods, I believe not only in my business but the people who come in every day to make it a business. Leadership to me entails allowing my people to grow, be creative and innovative, combining intellect and idiosyncrasies to face challenges by devising solutions in their various roles. I offer the support, advice and direction and as a result of this strategy we have evolved from the kitchen table to the factory floor and beyond.”

— Maria, PR

At Homefoods we are constantly evolving and looking at ways to improve on the quality of our products. In October 2008, we were awarded a grant of USD 9,000 by the Business Development Fund (BDF). These monies were for implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programme.

We are currently in this process which forms part of our aim to produce good, safe, quality food products and to monitor each stage of our production line. The HAACP processes when completed will create even more confidence between our Homefoods and its customers.

The system is geared towards improving already existing processes in place to eliminate any chemical and biological hazards that can occur in the different stages of food processing. This is done by using key actions known as Critical Control Points (CCPs). This ensures an increased level of food safety in both our supply and production chains. The project initiated in January 2009 will be completed in May 2009.