Uganda's Gold Shea

Regardless of how it's done, pounding and grinding dried Shea nuts by hand is one method of making shea butter; another requires two persons to press a lever while a cold press machine transforms Shea nut oil into a creamy pale yellow butter. Producing shea butter is labor-intensive work, and depending on how it's made, it can cost over $50 per kilogram. However, this isn't just any shea butter—this is East African shea butter, the most expensive version of the well-known product. When someone hears the word "shea butter," they probably think of the West African variety, but in East Africa, there is a different kind of shea nut subspecies called nyoa.

Nyoa isn't usually planted instead, it grows in the Wild in nations in East Africa, such as Sudan and Uganda. It has a very low melting point, so when spread , it melts easily and sinks into skin pores in a matter of minutes. In contrast, when you spread West African shea butter, it will stay on top because of its waxy texture. Therefore, making nyoa more appealing to cosmetics companies who use it for Butters oils and soaps. This is why East African shea butter can cost more than twice as much as its West African alternative.

In order to pick the best fruits the harvesters begin early in the morning. Once the fruits have fallen, they remove and eat the fruit, which reveals the Shea nut. They eat it because they won't need it to make the butter, and it tastes delicious. This is the beginning of quality control, as only the best Shea nuts are processed. These are grade A nuts, which are whole, undamaged, and untouched by insects. The nuts are then dried in the sun for a few days to reduce moisture. After that, they are carefully cracked, and the kernels are dried once more for two weeks.

There are typically two methods used to manufacture the shea butter: by hand or by machine. Making shea butter by hand is a labor-intensive process that requires a lot of physical labor and a machine. After the nuts dry, the producers heat the ash over a fire for thirty minutes, then roast the shea nuts in the ashes for an additional forty-five minutes while stirring continuously. This helps prevent mold growth and deactivates free fatty acids, or FFAs, which are harmful to the body. They must be careful because too much heat could result in a dark oil with high FFA levels rather than deactivated. Finally, the women spread the nuts on the ground to cool.

The women pound the nuts three times in shifts, then further muddle the mixture between pebbles and rocks. Then process the combination in a mill to generate a paste which they pour in hot water. Separating the oil needed to make the butter .

The oil is extracted and packaged for local sale with a kilogram costing more than $5. It is primarily used for cooking, although locals also use it on their skin . Though it is still more expensive than West African shea butter, the heat-processed butter is a more cost-effective substitute for cold-pressed nyoa. Locals also apply it on their skin. In Uganda, a kilogram of cold-pressed East African shea butter may fetch up to $112, but when exported, the price is more than four times higher. This is because cold press shea butter is the purest method of extracting the oil, which preserves the nuts.

The producers of Shea nuts collect, dry, and grind them before putting them in fabric bags and loading them into a cold press machine. In order to operate it, two people must press the lever's sides in a circle, extracting and pressing the oil from the fat in the Shea.

Nowadays, producers prefer the cold press method because it allows them to generate larger quantities of high-quality shea butter . When nuts are left to rest, the oil solidifies into shea butter, from nut to butter. The entire process can take three weeks. The process also enhance some of the most coveted qualities of butter. Research on nyoa has revealed that its OIC is noticeably higher.

This West African sheer butter has a high melting point and solidifies into a really hard, tougher texture that is more difficult to incorporate into cosmetics. It also has a lower steric acid content than West African shea butter, which adds to the butter's softness. Locals claims that this is the reason nyoa absorbs into the skin more quickly. However, nyoa has other unique qualities as well, and demand for it is currently rising due to its contents, which include OA vitamin E and antioxidants that make it easy to use, particularly for cosmetics.

This increasing demand is met with restriction. The fact that the shea tree only bears fruit once a year and that producers are still learning how to bolt their hearts is the reason for the slightly reduced supply. However there are efforts to farm more shea trees, most of the nuts are harvested in the wild, which limits producers. In addition, the Uganda National Forest Authority reports that over the past 25 years, the country has lost 63% of its tree cover. Locals use the wood for firewood, charcoal, and lumber, but nyoa producers are hopeful that as demand increases and the people become more aware of the value of nyoa, they will work to protect the trees.