Nuts and Oils

Shea butter is the first Fair Trade Certified product in this category available in Canada. Watch for updates on olive oil, coming to Canada soon...

Shea butter

Until recently, women living in rural areas primarily gathered shea nuts to meet their families' food needs, and to make everyday products. However, in recent decades, shea butter has experienced unprecedented growth in export markets.

The popularity of shea butter in Europe and North America has created a strong demand for its large-scale commercialization.

In early years, shea nuts were exported in their purest form and  chemically converted in the purchasing countries. While the original aim was to create markets for these products, this system instead increased producers' dependence on an unfavourable economic system. In addition to reducing the quality of shea butter from industrial processes, these agreements proved detrimental to the financial empowerment of producers.

                                                              Photo: Eric St-Pierre

The Fair Trade difference

Fair Trade producers process shea nuts in accordance with traditional methods. Continuing this practice in a co-operative not only preserves local knowledge, but also enables these producers to sell shea butter at a sustainable price that covers their costs of production. The price paid to producers of shea butter Fair Trade Certified is often two to three times higher than the conventional market price.

The following international standards for Fair Trade also apply:

• Producers are organized into co-operatives (or associations) which they own and operate democratically.
• The minimum guaranteed price is paid directly to co-operatives.
• Contracts with external partners guarantee long-term commitments, allowing producers to predict future earnings.
• A premium is paid to co-operatives for economic, social, and business development projects.
• Environmental standards for sustainable production are met.
• Forced labor in all its forms, including child labor, is prohibited.                                             

                                                                Photo: Eric St-Pierre   

How's it made?

Shea butter is made from a vegetable oil extracted from nuts produced by a native tree of in the African savannah: the Butyrosperum parkii, more commonly known as the shea butter tree. The shea trees grow in the African savannah in the wild, and can produce fruit for over 200 years. The shea nut grows inside a fruit approximately the size of a plum.

The collection and processing of shea nuts into butter are activities that have been practiced by women in sub-Saharan Africa since antiquity. Traditional shea butter production is an intensive manual process. Shea nuts are picked, roasted, and ground into a paste. This paste is then kneaded with water to extract the fat oil, which is rinsed and boiled to produce purified shea butter.

Shea butter is whitish in colour, and is particularly known for its moisturizing and regenerative properties. It is rich in natural fat-soluble vitamins A, E, F, K and fatty acids, which helps with tissue regeneration. It is often used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, or in food products. Traditionally, its uses include cooking, lighting oil lamps, and manufacturing soap.

Watch a great photo exhibit on the making of shea butter (by Eric St-Pierre) here.