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JAKARTA. A chocolate processing plant owned by the Kalla Group will begin operations at the end of May.
The group’s financial director, Imelda Jusuf Kalla, said the plant, located in South Konawe in Southeast Sulawesi, targeted to produce up to 35,000 tons of chocolate a year.
Managed by PT Kalla Kakao Industri, the plant will process cocoa beans to produce chocolate powder, liquid chocolate and butter, while its warehouse will be able to accommodate up to 1,500 tons of cocoa beans.
Imelda said that 80 percent of the raw materials, including cocoa beans, would come from regions in the province, such as Kolaka.
“We are looking more toward exporting our products to places such as China, India, Australia and the Middle East,” she explained, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
The group has engaged CIMB Niaga to finance Rp 350 billion (US$30.3 million) of the project.
