JohnVents: Nigerian Agribusiness Giant Quietly Turning Cocoa to Gold
JohnVents Group is transforming Nigeria’s cocoa wealth through local processing, consumer products and supply-chain investments, writes Sunday Ehigiator, who recently visited the company’s factories across Ondo State. The first thing that
On a recent visit to Nigeria, a group of journalists and influencers were given a behind-the-scenes look at how a local agribusiness giant, JohnVents Group, is turning cocoa into gold. As they arrived at Akure Airport, they were greeted by a lively performance by cultural dancers, providing a unique Nigerian welcome for their visit. The group toured JohnVents' manufacturing facilities across Ondo State, where they discovered a much larger story unfolding.
Their first major destination was JohnVents Premium Cocoa Products Industry Limited (PCPIL) in Ile-Oluji. Here, they witnessed the processing of cocoa beans into various industrial ingredients such as cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa cake, and cocoa powder. These ingredients are then supplied to international markets, showcasing the company's shift from merely trading agricultural commodities to processing and manufacturing them locally.
JohnVents' journey began in 2014 when its founder, John Alamu, was working at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). He noticed that smallholder farmers could produce crops but lacked access to agricultural inputs, finance, and dependable buyers. To address this, Alamu started supporting farmers informally, helping them obtain inputs and connect their harvests to markets. In 2016, he incorporated JohnVents, initially operating through agricultural trading and aggregation.
A key turning point came in 2021 when JohnVents acquired an 18,000-metric-tonne cocoa processing facility in Akure. This marked a transition from moving agricultural commodities to transforming them into industrial ingredients. Two years later, they acquired PCPIL in Ile-Oluji, an existing cocoa-processing facility with an annual capacity of 30,000 metric tonnes.
The acquisition aimed to revive the industrial asset, restore manufacturing activity, and create opportunities around the facility that had been operating below its capacity.
The company's ambitions extend beyond processing cocoa. In 2023, JohnVents established JohnVents Foods, which produces cocoa powders, chocolate drinks, cereals, and confectionery products. By vertically integrating their operations—sourcing, processing, manufacturing, logistics, and distribution—JohnVents aims to capture more value from Nigeria's agricultural wealth at home, rather than exporting it to other countries.
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