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		The Shea Butter Story is intimately familiar to women, children and families of northern Ghana and many other areas of sub-Saharan Africa. It is a story that has changed little over the last few thousand years - Shea Butter is still collected, processed and used in much the same way that it was 2,000 years ago. The difference is that now the benefits of Shea Butter are available to North America, Asia and Europe through the efforts of people like Gifty, and businesses like Shea Butter Market. The other difference, which is huge, is that Shea Butter is allowing many women to take more control of their economic destiny and is providing the resources to allow children to go to school and families to thrive.

		The Shea Tree is native to tropical Africa. 12 to 20 meters high, its branches are short and thick with a grayish bark. It grows spontaneously throughout drier areas in much of the Sub-Saharan region. The Shea Tree takes about 15 years to produce its first fruit and only reaches full maturity after 25-50 years. It produces fruit once each year and is very resistant to bush fires. So far, the Shea Tree has not been successfully domesticated, largely due to the long time it takes to produce the first fruit.

		Shea Fruit is delicious and enjoyed by everyone when it matures from June to August, the middle of the rainy season. People say the round greenish-yellow fruit is like a taste of heaven. When the heavy rains push the ripe fruits onto the ground people pick them up and eat them. Children, Elders, everyone enjoys this gift from nature. The fruit is so abundant that there is plenty for everyone, and for the animals and birds. Traditionally the fruits are eaten fresh and not preserved.

		Gathering the Shea Nuts is often just a part of eating the fruit. Children are taught from the earliest age that the gift of the Shea Tree is to be treasured. During Shea Fruit season every house has a basket where the Shea Nuts (which are at the centre of the fruit like a peach stone) are deposited after the fruit is eaten. Women will scour the savannah and bush, gathering basketfuls of Shea Nuts and then walking miles back to their villages, carrying them in baskets on their heads. Gathering the Shea Nuts, along with all the other steps of the process, is a social activity.

		Drying the Shea Nuts - After the Shea Nuts are gathered they must be dried to prevent spoilage when the nuts are stored. They are spread on the ground in the hot African sun and left to dry.

		Separating/Cracking - When dry, the nut which is the source of Shea Butter, must be separated from the outer shell. This is a social activity, traditionally done by Women Elders and young girls who sit on the ground and break the shells with a small rock.

		Crushing - To make the Shea Nuts into butter they must be crushed. Traditionally this is done with a mortar and pestle. It is hard grueling work with the women spending hours lifting the heavy pestles and slamming them down into the mortar to crush the nuts so they can be roasted.

		Roasting - The crushed nuts are then roasted in huge pots over an open wood fire. The pots must be stirred constantly with a wooden paddle so they don't burn. The butter is heavy and stirring it is hot, smoky work, done under a searing African sun. This is where the slight smoky smell of traditional Shea Butter originates. The smell tells you that the butter has been produced using the same traditions and tools that have been used for hundreds of years.

		Grinding - The roasted Shea Nuts are ground into a smoother paste, water is gradually added and the paste is mixed well by hand.

		Separating and Curing the Butter Oils - The paste is kneaded by hand in large basins and water is gradually added to help separate out the butter oils. As they float to the top the butter oils, which are in a curd state, are taken out and excess water squeezed out. The butter oil curds are then melted in large open pots over a slow fire. A period of slow boiling will remove any remaining water, which boils off as steam.

		And Now Shea Butter - The pure Shea Butter is ladled off the top of the pot and put in a cool place to harden. Shea Butter, which is creamy or golden yellow in its natural state, is traditionally formed into balls by the women.

		Our Shea Butter is still made in the same traditional way that it has been made for millennia and it still contains all of the skin care and healing properties that so many generations of Ghanaians have depended on to protect their skin against the sun and wind from the Sahara.