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Shea butter hitting new market highs

Esther Dogonyaro of TCL Ltd in Nigeria

Inquiries continue to roll in from West Africa’s appearance at September’s trade show, Inside Beauty at the Health and Beauty American Expo. And WATH is preparing shea butter and natural cosmetic producers for the next big US trade show in March, Natural Products Expo West. Select export ready companies will be invited to exhibit – or those who are just learning about the export requirements – are being invited to a training Dec. 14-16 in Accra.

This fall, WATH published the Shea Butter Export Guide, 15 pages in French or English that take readers through customs to certification to labeling and packaging. It includes a directory of West African laboratories to test shea butter.

The guide was a big hit recently in Nigeria and Burkina Faso, where WATH’s shea butter expert, Dr. Peter Lovett, met with producers and dealers in October. The supply and interest in both countries could translate into multi-million-dollar industries – though as in much of the region, constraints keep both countries from reaching full market potential.

Karilor of Burkina Faso displays their products

The “shea belt” runs through much of West Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. WATH is working in all these countries, as well as along the entire “value chain” of shea butter production, from the tree to the supermarket shelf.

WATH facilitates the shea industry through five key efforts:

• Improving kernel quality – WATH collaborates with the research efforts of ProKarite and Action for Enterprise to boost the quality of sheanuts. Nigeria’s kernels particularly need attention; Lovett made presentations about the subject in October to the ministries of Commerce and Industry, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, traders and producers.

• Boosting exports of bulk butter – WATH trains reliable producers of bulk shea butter – both traditionally and mechanically extracted – and is linking them with an increasing number US buyers via tradeshows and its website www.watradehub.com.

• Marketing higher-grade bulk butter – WATH sends butter samples to laboratories in West Africa, which conduct quality tests. WATH also links producers of organically certified, fair-trade and premium handcrafted shea butter to specialized international buyers.

• Improving finished shea-based cosmetic products – WATH provides regular assistance in marketing and labeling by reviewing packaging and promotional materials for West African shea merchants. On the technical side, WATH has made contact with a French cosmetics engineer already working with West Africans to refine cosmetic formulas and supply the base ingredients for creams and lotions.

• Exploring edible markets – Regularly used as cooking fat in West Africa and as an ingredient in European chocolate, shea is finding a niche in US food markets. One buyer wants to use it in African ethnic food shops, while others are considering it a viable ingredient in cake frosting.

WATH receives more inquiries about shea butter than any other product sector, and it continues to act as an honest broker in sealing deals. Successes include All Pure Nature of Ghana, which has attended WATH trainings and which in late October sold 2,000 kilos of bulk shea to a German company. One notable deal on the horizon is a WATH-sponsored Beninese company that has signed a contract to produce 200,000 shea-butter based soaps per month for a US buyer, which is investing in the equipment and branding.

“I’m excited,” Lovett said. “The shea butter wagon is rolling, and we’re making it happen.”