SHEA NUTS

The first step in creating  shea butter  is gathering the fallen shea fruit and nuts. Shea trees grow wild in northern Ghana and cover vast areas of the Savannah. Sometimes a single shea tree can take up to fifty years before they are mature enough to be harvested for the first time, making them a precious commodity.

Shea fruit season is late April to early June. Delicious, tasty and sweet, it is a treat for young and old, with a seed that can be processed into shea butter. Fruit that falls from the trees is picked, then cleaned, dried, husked and packed in sacks for transport to the Baraka Shea Butter processing center. Only about 15% of the fallen shea fruit/seeds are picked for shea butter production. The rest are left to germinate and grow into new shea trees.

KOMBO NUTS 

Kombo nuts come from the tropical West African tree called Pycnanthus angolensis, which is also known as the “African nutmeg”. These tall trees provide natural shade and ecosystem biodiversity for cocoa crops. 

The nuts are used to make our  kombo butter  which is naturally high in myristoleic acid to help soothe muscle and joint pain.

PALM NUTS 

The shelling of the palm nuts is the first step in traditional  palm oil  extraction. You can do shelling by cracking each nut with two stones and simultaneously separating the kernel and shell. The usage of nut-cracking stations has mostly replaced this human procedure.

The traditional method of extracting oil from palm kernels is to fry them in old oil or simply heat the dried nuts. Using a motorized grinder, the fried kernels are pounded or ground to a paste. The palm kernel oil is released by heating the paste with a tiny amount of water. You can skim the released oil from the top regularly.

COCOA BEANS 

Our cocoa beans are sustainably grown and hand harvested from community based small-holder farms. The techniques used to harvest and prepare the beans have been passed down through generations. For most women and families this is the mainstay of their economy.

Cocoa beans are used to make our luxurious  cocoa butter . We have kept a few beans just for you though! 

NEEM SEEDS

Neem seeds, best known for producing beneficial oil,  are derived from the evergreen Azadirachat Indica tree known for its medicinal, cosmetic and pesticidal properties, earning its nickname ‘village pharmacy’.

Neem is also a natural, organic insecticide that can chase off pests from your garden and off your skin.

The seeds are first broken open and the kernels separated to be pressed into  neem oil .

BAOBAB SEEDS

Derived from the majestic baobab trees native to northern Ghana, the fruit dries naturally on its branches. After drying for six months in the hot African sun, all of the moisture is removed from the fruit and the shell becomes hard.

The baobab seed is extracted by cracking open the shell and breaking up the fruit. The seeds are first hammer-milled to remove the hard outer coat from the kernel and then placed in a screw expeller and cold pressed from the kernel. The oil is then filtered for clarity to obtain a beautiful clear golden liquid  baobab oil .