Shea Tree

A slow-growing tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) native to the savanna belt of West and Central Africa, cultivated and semi-wild harvested for the fat pressed from its seed kernels, known as shea butter. The tree can take roughly fifteen to twenty years to bear its first fruit and is rarely planted in orchards, with most shea nuts instead gathered from naturally occurring trees on farmland and in parklands, traditionally processed into butter by women. Shea butter is used across the region as a cooking fat and skin emollient and has become a significant global export ingredient in cosmetics and confectionery as a cocoa butter substitute.