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Empowering Communities to Participate in the Shea Value Chain

11th Nov. 06, Catholic Guest House, Tamale

Market Opportunitiesfor Shea

Dr. Peter Lovett



Lessons to be Learnt:• Overview of What the World Wants• Multiple markets exist

– Uses (edible, medicinal & cosmetic)– Locations (local, regional & international)

• Complex African Supply Chain• Products exported from Africa (nuts,

butter & finished products)• Choose your market(s) carefully & know

their demands• US growing demand for shea butter



Multiple markets exist –uses

• Cosmetics– Creams, lotions utilise moisturising properties– Pure or refined depending on market demand

• Soap-making– Up to 80% shea butter possible– Super-fatting replaces lost ‘unsaponifiables’

• Stearin– Confectionary: high melting point veg. fats– Cocoa Butter equivalents or improvers (CBIs)– Chocolate (different regulations around world)



Natural Cosmetics Market

• L’Oréal: No. 1 ranked cosmetics company purchased The Body Shop but competition!

• $3.9 billion global natural cosmetics– Euromonitor International predicts 9% annual

growth thru 2008 to $5.8 billion– Only 1% for conventional cosmetics

• L’Occitane occupies “higher ground”– best-selling shea butter hand cream – $22.27 / 150 ml– The battle is not so much over price as

perceived “quality”



Multiple markets - locations

• Local– Village level trade for household consumption

• National– Urban centres for household /cosmetics

• Regional– Across borders to where limited availability

• International– Extraction & refining in EU & India for edible– US: mainly for use in cosmetics & soaps



Current Total Use

• Three markets– Traditional use (50%)– Refined for edible products, e.g. cocoa

butter improvers (45%)– Personal care products (refined or not)

(5% =10% of total exported)• Estimate 300,000 t dry kernel collected

– ~150,000 t shea kernel exported



Sources in West Africa

• Ghana (33%) – 50,000 t• Burkina Faso (33%) – 50,000 t• Cote d’Ivoire (14%) – 20,000 t• Benin & Togo (14%) – 20,000 t• Mali (7%) – 10,000 t• Nigeria – official less than 1,000 t

– 10,000 t illegally Benin (FFA traceable!)



Products from Africa

• Dried shea kernels– Stearin, boiled, dry, no impurities

• Unrefined shea butter– Traditionally or mechanically extracted

• Refined or modified shea butter– Washed, yellow dye, neutralised

• Finished or packaged products– Pure, soaps, lotions



Sheanuts & Butter Supply Chain

• Picking & post-harvest processing in rural villages

• Traditional ‘manual’ extraction of shea butter

• Local trade in sheanuts & butter• National traders in sheanuts & butter• Mechanical extraction of shea butter• Exporters of sheanuts & shea butter



International “Bulk” Buyers

• AarhusKarlshamns- in Denmark / Sweden• IOM group (Loders-Croklaan in Holland)• Feeds, Fats & Fertilisers in India• ADM-Wilmar, Ghana Nuts, Pure Company• Demand high butter content, stearin rich,

boiled, sun-dried, low free fatty acid & no foreign bodies

• Others in EU/US market cosmetics/edible



Choose market carefully

• Identify your market place!– Been contacted, found buyer, new opening?

• Willing to invest sourcing shea butter?– Rural produced versus factory facilities

• Willing to invest in marketing?– Local markets may prefer low-cost packaging– US markets need high-tech designs

• Can you guarantee “Quality @ Quantity”?– Buyers of bulk butter demand low FFA– Buyers for cosmetics want high unsaps.



Thank-you and good luck!Merci et bonne chance [email protected]

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