About Beer Belly Butter™

African Shea butter has been used for centuries for its unsurpassed ability to protect and regenerate the skin. It comes from the nut of the karite tree, which grows throughout West Africa.

African Shea butter is extremely high in Vitamins A, E and F. Shea butter enhances cell regeneration and capillary circulation. Shea butter provides skin with all the essential elements it needs for balance, elasticity and tone.

Shea butter can be used therapeutically for the following skin conditions: Dry Skin, Stretch Mark prevention and minimization, Eczema, Psoriasis, Arthritis & Rheumatism, Wrinkle Prevention, Diaper Rash, Scar minimization, Dry Hair & Scalp and Skin Discolorations.

Our Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii) does not contain animal derived ingredients and is BSE free.

Beer Belly Butter™ - Shea Butter 101

Shea Butter is a natural plant extract with exceptional moisturizing properties which comes from the karite or shea tree. The Shea tree, formerly Butryospermum paradoxum, is now called Vitellaria paradoxa. It produces its first fruit (which resemble large plums) when it is about 20 years old and reaches its full production when the tree is about 45 years old. It produces nuts for up to 200 years after reaching maturity.

Many vernacular names are used for Vitellaria, which is a reflection of its extensive range of occurrence - nearly 5,000km from Senegal (west) to Uganda (east) across the African Continent. The nomenclature history and synonymy of the Shea tree followed a very tortuous evolution since the oldest specimen was first collected by Mungo Park on May 26, 1797 before eventually arriving at the name vitellaria with subspecies paradoxa and nilotica.

It usually grows to an average height of about 15m with profuse branches and a thick waxy and deeply fissured bark that makes it fire resistant. The Shea tree grows naturally in the wild in the dry Savannah belt of West Africa from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east, and onto the foothills of the Ethiopian highlands.

It occurs in 19 countries across the African continent, namely Benin, Ghana, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Togo Uganda, Zaire and Guinea.

What is Shea Butter used for? And who uses it?

Shea Butter is used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and in Europe it is also used in the confectionary and chocolate industry as a cocoa butter substitute.

People of all ages and skin types utilize shea butter because of its many uses. Every house should have a jar of shea butter for smoother skin or for treatment of minor skin injuries around the house. Shea butter can be used to treat various skin problems including dry skin, psoriasis, burns, blemishes, eczema, wrinkles and stretch marks. Other uses: Adds and maintain moisture to dry and brittle hair, revitalizes, repairs breakage & split ends and promotes hair growth.

What are the different varieties/species of Shea Butter?

There are two main varieties of shea butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (West African) and Vitellaria Nilotica (East African). Beer Belly Butter™ is the finest Butyrospermum Parkii and is produced in West Africa.

What are the differences between Unrefined and Refined Shea Butter?

There are many differences between unrefined and refined shea butter. Most noticeably are the scent, color and benefits. Unrefined shea butter maintains its nutty scent, ivory - beige color and all of its healing properties. Refined shea butter has been chemically altered to remove shea butters natural scent, is bleach white in color and retains only a small portion of its natural healing properties. Please note that some companies sell refined shea butter as 100% pure shea butter. Beer Belly Butter™ is unrefined, the way it should be.

How is Shea Butter produced?

The 9 major stages of processing include: Sorting, Cracking, Roasting, Grinding, Kneading, Boiling, Filtration and Stirring, Packaging, and the final most important stage- Quality Control:

• SORTING: Separating the nut from the unwanted particles (tiny dry leaves, spoiled nut etc and grouping the good nut into different grades.
• CRACKING: An adjusted surface Grinder machine will break the good nuts into the desired size/form to ensure even roasting.
• ROASTING: The cracked nut is roasted in a rotating drum over controlled heat until the nut fully roasted care is taken to avoid burning the nuts.
• GRINDING: The roasted nuts are grinded into a paste (Color - deep brown).
• KNEADING: The paste is cooled, kneaded or beaten adding water until the oil (foamy form) comes up for collection. The collected oil (foamy form) is washed with water until the color becomes light grey. The best Shea Butter for skin and hair use is prepared either by cold press or a traditional kneading process without the use of added chemicals or preservatives.
• BOILING: The product (foamy form) is boiled under controlled temperatures until all excess water evaporates.
• FILTERATION AND STIRRING: The resultant oil is filtered and stirred until it becomes a pale yellow/cream or beige Butter.
• PACKAGING: Products are packaged in 50lb plastic lined boxes or heavy duty plastic containers in various sizes as per customer's specifications.
• QUALITY CONTROL: Every batch of Shea Butter is tested for quality by running an analysis on several values requiring that the results be within the parameters indicated next to the values. These parameters set forth by the UEMOA (Union Economique Monetaire Ouest Africaine).

What does organic Shea Butter smell like?

Unrefined shea butter has a distinctive nutty scent. However, once applied to skin the scent will start to fade and become very faint in about 20-30 minutes.

What is the shelf life of Shea Butter?

The shelf life of our shea butter is 18-24 months when kept in a cool dry place. You can extend the shelf life of shea butter by keeping it refrigerated.

Fair Trade Statement

Our shea butter is provided by the Suhuyini Women's Cooperative and our partner company Naasakle Ltd.

The Suhuyini Women's Cooperative is an association of 13 women groups with a total membership of about 350 individuals who produce Unrefined Virgin Shea butter using traditional processing methods.

The objectives of the Association are:

• To promote the economic interests of the members in the production of shea butter and thereby helping alleviate poverty.
• To build a facility to house their processing units.
• To build a health clinic and a preschool/nursery for the community.
• To provide training to all members in improved processing methods, quality control issues and marketing of the product.