The larger column is not the chocolate one
By declared value the sweets are the bigger trade: 3,044,764 dollars against 1,441,334 for chocolate. Supplier conversations open on chocolate; most of the money here is not there.
It also decides where a second source is worth trying first. Turkish origin is third in the larger column on 4.72 per cent and seventh in the smaller on 1.86. A container built around the line that already clears and sells here carries less risk than one built around the line barely tried.
Who fills the chocolate half
France 44.0 per cent, India 33.5, Ghana 12.1: three names and little room behind them in a column of 1,441,334 dollars. A European supplier whose brands are decided in Europe, a long-haul volume supplier, and the neighbour across the border.
Türkiye sits seventh on 1.86 per cent, a trace, and we will call it one. The honest first step is a named sample set placed beside what you stock, quoted line by line — moulded and wrapped chocolate, chocolate-coated lines, boxed assortments — not a standing order argued from a table.
The sugar column already has a Turkish line in it
China 60.7 per cent, India 21.5, Türkiye third on 4.72. A source holding three fifths of a column ships from far off, in large lots, on somebody else’s reorder cycle. We will not claim to beat that on price per kilo; on a price-led sweet we may not.
Third place says dragées, Turkish delight and wrapped confectionery of Turkish origin already have a route in and buyers who know the category. The open question is not origin. It is format, case weight, minimum per line, and how much of the deal is written down before money moves.
Cocoa grows next door; the wrapped bar is imported
Third in the chocolate column is a neighbour in the cocoa belt at 12.1 per cent; the two larger sources sit far outside it. That is the shape of the table: the beans of this region travel out, and the finished bar travels back in.
We are one of those elsewheres. What loads from Gaziantep is finished product — chocolate, dragées, Turkish delight, wrapped confectionery and spreads in jars — made by producers there. Cocoa, couverture and bulk chocolate by the kilo are outside the range: sourced on request, with composition and format confirmed beforequoting.
What a declared figure carries, and what it does not
These are Togo’s own declared values, not a mirror assembled from partner statistics, which puts them on firmer ground than the figures available for several markets nearby. Firmer is not complete: one year is a snapshot, a share in a column this size moves with a handful of containers, and no case weights or unit prices come with it.
Search does not fill the gap. English returned 373 raw phrases and left 6 above a twenty-a-month threshold, about 180 a month, none of it buying language; French returned 630 raw and left 1, at 30 a month.
Turning two columns into one offer
The table says where to start; a list says what to price. Send the lines you want quoted; the format for each — bulk carton, retail box, kilo bag or jar, the jar line being a spread; an indicative quantity; your delivery point; and whether the pack stays in our standard pack or carries your brand, in which case nothing is printed before you approve the artwork.
The offer answers line by line: net weight, case and pallet data, minimum, lead time and delivery term. Terms quoted are FCA Gaziantep, FOB Mersin, CIF or DAP, and Mersin is about three hours from our factory by road. Chocolate travels in a reefer through the warm months, Turkish delight and dragées dry, and both share one load (mixed container).
Turkish chocolate is only seventh here. Why quote it at all?
Because seventh on 1.86 per cent of the chocolate column is not the whole position. In sugar confectionery Türkiye is third on 4.72 per cent of a larger column, so dragées, Turkish delight and wrapped sweets from Gaziantep already clear and sell in this market. On the chocolate side we would start where the figure puts us: a small named sample set beside what you stock, quoted line by line, rather than a volume argument.
How firm are these import figures?
They are Togo’s own declared import values for 2025 rather than a mirror read back from partner statistics, so they are firmer than what we can publish for several neighbouring markets. Their limit is what any declaration leaves out: no case weights, no unit prices, no split between retail pack and bulk, and nothing about the pace of reorder. One year is also a snapshot, and shares of a column this size move with a handful of containers.
Can lines from both columns travel in one container?
Yes. The minimum is set per line rather than per container, so chocolate, dragées, Turkish delight, wrapped confectionery and spreads in jars load together on one document set. Couverture, bulk chocolate by the kilo, cocoa, raw nuts, dried fruit, halva, tahini and baklava sit outside the range and are sourced on request; we confirm composition and format before quoting. Certificates are issued for our factory, and the offer states what applies on the day it is issued.
