1. Shea Today
The Industry in a Nutshell
Dr. Peter Lovett
The USAID West Africa Trade Hub / The Global Shea Alliance

2. Let’s Learn About Shea Butter
• Amazing ingredient – body care & confectionary
• Oil rich tree seed from traditionally managed parklands
• African women pick & extract edible vegetable fat
• Utilized for millennia – by ancient Egyptians?
• International trade transforms invisible lives
• Industry at crossroads as NEW alliance formed
Looking after People, Planet & Profit
Shea does it all - Sustainably

3. Stats from the Thin Green Line
• Parklands in 3.7 million km2 semi-arid zone
• 21 sub-Saharan African countries – only!
• 8 export 250-350,000+ tons p.a. dry kernel
– Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinée, Mali, Nigeria & Togo
• 9 ton fresh nuts : 3 ton dry kernel : 1 ton butter
• 6-7 ton kernel : 1 ton stearin [or conc. bioactives]
• Women av. harvest 1 x 85 kg bag per season
• 4 million+ women harvest export crop

4. Multiple International Use
• Beneficial properties helps chocolate industry
– Smoothes economics & allows market expansion
– Improved bloom resistance, mouth feel, etc
• Fillings, ice creams, coatings, etc
• Natural cosmetics
– Functional ingredient
• Emollient & moisturiser
• Thickener & gelling agent
– Bioactive efficacy

5. Recent developments in West Africa
Did you know ……?
• That there are 12
major industrial
processing plants in
the region
(8 of them very active)

7. • Traditional crop
• Millions rural women
• Weeks of work Production to Market
• April to September
• Kernel quality defined DISCONNECTED…
• Price takers Limited transparency!
• Commence selling @
< $150 per ton kernel
• 1,000s of nut traders • < 10 major buyers
• Consolidate & finance • Export, process &
• Commence selling @ formulate
> $250 per ton kernel • Erratic price @ $250 -
• Quality deteriorates $800 per ton kernel
• Limited value added • Quality variation high
• Zero traceability

8. Export Shea Butter Value Chain
Legend
West African International Kernel Butter Final Product
90% 45% 15% Edible
Collectors Traders Processors Fractionators
Brands
85%
30%
10%
70%
Fractionators Cosmetic
Village-based Brands
Processors
Processors 45% 15%
Refiners
5%
Traditional
10% Distribution/
Uses Ɨ
Formulation
Representative Organizations:
 Village-based processing – by co-ops & firms,  WA Fractionators – Ghananuts, Wilmar
e.g. Burkarina, Songtaaba, SEKAF, Naasakle  Int’l Refiners – AAK, Loders, SRC, Cargill
 WA Processors – Fludor, Nioto, Ghananuts  Int’l Fractionators – AAK, Loders, 3Fs
 Int’l Processors – AAK  Brands – Body Shop, L’Oreal
* Note, %’s represent volume of SETs in the shea industry as of 2011; figures do not reflect unrefined shea butter
* At present, ~5% of industrially processed total (fractionated/refined) gets used by the cosmetic industry
Ɨ 65-75% of harvested shea does not enter the export market and is retained for traditional uses

9. Paradox of paradoxa
• 90% of knowledge available to market is about
hand-crafted shea butter
But…
• 90% of actual trade in nuts
• Whether in chocolate or body butters
• Source invisible to consumers
• Offers opportunity for an industry alliance

10. Women per Chocolate Bar!
• Typical 100g bar of milk-chocolate
• Contains 5 % non-cocoa fats
• 20% of these fats are shea stearin (1% of bar)
• = 7g dry shea kernel per bar
• 300 million bars sold in UK annually
• 2,100 tons dry shea kernel
• 25,200 bags harvested by how many women?

11. T raditional Process – Kernel
1. H arvest (from farm, rarely bush)
2. Accumulate (in piles or pits)
3. H eat? (boil, roasted or left raw)
4. Dry whole nuts
5. De-husk (cracked by-hand!)
6. Dry kernels & store

12. Quality Defined by Kernel
Processing & Storage
• FFA determined by heating
• Peroxides during boiling
• Smoking: poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH s)
• Fungal infections during drying & storage
• Insect infestations

13. First Critical Bottleneck!
Low Women harvest
quality
kernel Post-harvest process
Dry kernels
Exported & Processed to butter for Shea butter
processed for for home consumption for cosmetics, etc
confectionary & cosmetics & local markets export & regional

14. T raditional Process - Butter
7. Crush kernels (or left whole)
8. Dry-roast (or heated in ash or sand)
9. Milled (or pounded & stone grind)
10. Kneaded (or water-boiled or pressed)
11. Boil oil/fat to dry & clean (filter!)
12. Prepare for use, sale or storage

15. W ork Closely with
Producers
• Discuss supplies early
• T rain on key quality issues
• Supply packaging materials early
• Share financial risk
• Producer most important part of
supply chain = to your market!

17. Social Benefits
of Shea Income
• More jobs & higher incomes, e.g.
– School fees paid
– Improved family nutrition
– Better housing
• Higher incomes to coops & communities
– Access to potable water improved
– Schools & medical centres constructed
• Fiscal returns of transparent business

18. Environmental Benefits
of Sustainable Shea
• Biodiversity maintenance
• Trees provide carbon sinks & storage
• Nutrient cycling & soil fertility improved
• Better yields from agroforestry system
• Tree roots protect against rain/wind erosion
• Sustainable supply-chain benefits, e.g.
– Reduced petrolatum use
– Sustainable packaging

19. Global Shea Alliance – How Far?
• Impetus, capacity & willingness for change
• Ambition to connect the disconnect
• National networks & associations developed
• Founders meet Oct. 2010, Accra
• Shea 2011: Sustainable Solutions
• Shea 2012: Shared value
• Shea 2013: Global Perspectives
– 240+ members, EC committee up for re-election

20. What if…
…the U.S. removed
limitations on use of
CBEs in chocolate?
U.S. Chocolate market
- 2006 sales: $16 billion
- 2011 forecasted sales: $18 billion
- Average consumption: 12.31 lbs, per
household; $50 / year
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21. What if…
• …traders in West Africa assured international
buyers their material had highest oil yields?
Bad seeds generate 25% – good seeds generate 50%.
• …the quality of the fat
generated was always good?
Bad seeds have up to 20% FFA
1% stearin lost per FFA – 40$ per ton!
Improving shea quality
cuts costs & increase margins.
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22. What happens…
…when a new use for shea is discovered?
Demand increases…
Studies show shea has anti-arthritic effect. Potential
for others, e.g. anti-malaria, lowering cholesterol,
reduces tumor formation, etc
An alliance helps the global shea industry manage change
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23. Thank you!
More information is available at www.watradehub.com
Presenter’s contact information: plovett@watradehub.com