Abe-Inge Vincent, Arabe James, Agbenorhevi Jacob K, Oduro Ibok N, Mohammed Latifatu, Zaukuu John-Lewis Z, Asante Frank A, Pawar Genevieve, Owusu Nana Ofori
Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Institute of Industrial Research, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, P. O. Box LG 576, 92 Boundary Road, Accra, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2024 Aug 29;10(17):e36961. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36961. eCollection 2024 Sep 15.
Cold temperature (≤20 ᵒC) storage or handling is required to maintain the quality characteristics of chocolate after production throughout the supply chain. The objective of this study was to assess the retail conditions, challenges, and willingness of retailers to use cooling devices. A total of 228 chocolate retailers sampled from Kumasi and Accra were interviewed using questionnaires with both closed and open-ended questions. The purposive, snowballing, and random sampling techniques were used. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. The majority of the respondents were female (82 %), aged between 21 and 30 years (33.9 %) and had a maximum of Junior High School education (39.0 %). About 15.4 % were registered retailers of Cocoa Processing Company - Ghana, 56.1 % sold on the streets of which 71.1 % sold under no shade and 71.9 % sold all day. A proportion of 76.2 % reported having challenges in their chocolate retail business. Among these challenges softening dominated with about 78.1 % of the retailers reported experiencing it in their daily operations. Spoilage (18.9 %), damage during handling (35.1 %), oily surface (34.2 %), darker surface appearance (10.1 %), and whitish surface appearance (39.9 %) were other challenges faced by retailers. The majority (76.8 %) of the respondents affirmed elevated temperatures caused melting, oil leakage and fat bloom in chocolate leading to rejections by clients. A significant proportion (81.1 %) indicated a cooling device for retail is necessary and were willing to use it when made available. The findings show that vending conditions were generally unsuitable for the shelf-stability of chocolates. An innovative vending device with cooling system would serve as possible intervention to mitigate the challenges faced by chocolate retailers.
生产后的巧克力在整个供应链中都需要低温（≤20℃）储存或处理，以保持其品质特性。本研究的目的是评估零售条件、挑战以及零售商使用冷却设备的意愿。通过问卷调查，对从库马西和阿克拉抽取的228家巧克力零售商进行了访谈，问卷包含封闭式和开放式问题。采用了立意抽样、滚雪球抽样和随机抽样技术。使用SPSS 26版本对收集到的数据进行分析。大多数受访者为女性（82%），年龄在21至30岁之间（33.9%），最高学历为初中（39.0%）。约15.4%是加纳可可加工公司的注册零售商，56.1%在街上销售，其中71.1%在无遮蔽的情况下销售，71.9%全天销售。76.2%的受访者表示在巧克力零售业务中面临挑战。在这些挑战中，软化问题最为突出，约78.1%的零售商表示在日常经营中遇到过。变质（18.9%）、处理过程中的损坏（35.1%）、表面油腻（34.2%）、表面颜色变深（10.1%）和表面发白（39.9%）是零售商面临的其他挑战。大多数（76.8%）受访者确认高温会导致巧克力融化、漏油和起霜，从而被客户拒收。很大一部分（81.1%）受访者表示零售用冷却设备是必要的，并且在有设备时愿意使用。研究结果表明，自动售货条件总体上不适合巧克力的货架稳定性。一种带有冷却系统的创新自动售货设备可能是缓解巧克力零售商所面临挑战的一种干预措施。
