“Presently we will be able to produce about 30,000 bottles of toothpick in just a month. We also produce variety of products from bamboo, ranging from kebab sticks, cocktail sticks, dowel sticks, tongue press, coffee stir stick and skewers,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mr Kenneth Okine, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic, said the introduction of new machines from China by the company was a bold step to augment the operations of the company to deliver to high specifications.

Located at Amrahia on the Dodowa road, Pamplo Ghana Limited, he said, was set to become the only company in the country with the capacity to produce variety of products from bamboo.

Mr Okine explained that with a new machine and employee upgrade, the company was producing to international certification capable of standing the test of time.

He said: “The company is looking forward to hold discussions with Fan Milk Ghana Limited in order to produce ice cream sticks for the company.”

 “So, we are now open for business, although we have been around for some time. We are presently set to meet any demand which will be put to us,” he said.

Marketing approach

According to him, there is ready market for the skewers and the kebab sticks. He said the public was also beginning to trust the quality of the toothpicks produced by the company and were now shunning the cheap imports from China.

Aside from producing for multinational firms, the company is targeting fruit sellers and chop bars inside and outside of Accra to establish a market with its improved packaging.

Bamboo contribution

Bamboos are used in construction works, furniture making and charcoal burning.

In other countries such as China, bamboo shoots are used for food, watershed protection and carbon sequestration (the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir among others).

The bamboo industry is a key component of the non-traditional exports sector of the country’s economy. Its contribution to the country’s GDP cannot be underestimated, as it creates jobs and generates foreign exchange for the economy.

However, the last two decades have seen a downturn in the fortunes of the sector, as foreign exchange from the handicraft sector fell from US$15 million in 2001 to US$2.5 million at the end of 2014.

The decline, according to the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), was as a result of lack of investment in product and design development by handicraft producers.

To revert the trend, Mr Okine said Pamplo Ghana Limited would produce enough in order to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on imports.

He urged Ghanaians to embrace the products from Ghana to allow the company to expand and employ more people throughout the country.

“We will keep to high standards at cheaper prices to meet the pockets of all and we hope companies and individuals will patronise what we have,” he said.