Does EMI Agro sell shea butter to every type of business, or only to the seven buyer types listed?

EMI Agro sells to business buyers. The seven pages are the segments we serve most often and have tailored notes for. If you sit outside them, use the contact form and state your use and volume. Buyers of shea press cake for feed or soap start on the press-cake product page.

What is the difference between the buyer-type pages and the product pages for shea butter on this site?

Buyer-type pages answer who you are — recommended grade, documents, how buying starts. Product pages and the specification hub answer what you are buying — the grade, formats and each laboratory parameter. Most buyers need one buyer-type page and one product or specification page.

Which page should a company that is both a contract manufacturer and a private-label buyer of shea butter use?

Choose by what you do with EMI's butter. If you formulate to a customer's specification, use the contract manufacturers page. If you buy bulk butter to sell under your own brand without reformulating, use the private-label buyers page. The commercial conversation overlaps; the documents and spec-agreement process differ.

Do MOQ and lead time differ between buyer types for EMI Agro shea butter?

Standard minimums and lead times are confirmed on the quote for the grade, format and destination you name — they are not published as a single figure on this site. The entry path differs: indie brands and soap makers usually start with a sample then a trial order, while distributors and contract manufacturers usually discuss volume and scheduled shipments. The sample-to-container playbook covers that path.

By Industry

Shea Butter by Industry and Buyer Type

Seven kinds of business buy shea butter from EMI Agro. Pick yours to see the grade, format, minimums and documents that fit.

EMI Agro Industries supplies unrefined Grade A and refined N-RBD shea butter to seven buyer types — indie cosmetic brands, contract manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers, soap makers, food manufacturers, pharmaceutical buyers and private-label buyers. Each page below states the recommended grade, how that segment usually starts (sample, COA or volume quote), the documents EMI discusses, and where to begin. Read the complete guide to shea butter if you still need the product story first.

Choose your buyer type

Indie brands and private-label buyers usually start with unrefined Grade A; contract manufacturers, food and pharmaceutical buyers usually specify refined N-RBD; distributors and soap makers buy both.

Indie Cosmetic Brands

Small first orders of unrefined Grade A, full documentation and a traceability story you can use.

Unrefined Grade A

Shea butter for indie cosmetic brands

Contract Manufacturers

Refined N-RBD and unrefined Grade A held to an agreed specification, with a COA per batch and change control.

Refined N-RBDUnrefined Grade A

Shea butter for contract manufacturers

Distributors & Wholesalers

Container-load supply of both grades and press cake, priced by volume band on your Incoterm.

Unrefined Grade ARefined N-RBD

Shea butter for distributors and wholesalers

Soap Makers

Unrefined Grade A by the carton or drum, with the SAP value and unsaponifiable facts your recipe needs.

Unrefined Grade A

Shea butter for soap makers

Food Manufacturers

Refined N-RBD with low FFA and peroxide value, batch documents and a straight answer on CBE rules.

Refined N-RBD

Shea butter for food manufacturers

Pharmaceutical Buyers

Refined N-RBD with per-batch identity and purity data, a full statement pack and an honest certification scope.

Refined N-RBD

Shea butter for pharmaceutical buyers

Private-Label Buyers

Bulk and semi-finished shea butter for your own brand: formats, minimums, lead time and the label data per lot.

Unrefined Grade ARefined N-RBD

Shea butter for private-label buyers

Shea butter by application

Specification tables for each use sit on the application pages below. The buyer-type pages above cover grade, documents and how buying starts.

Cosmetics & personal care

Creams, lotions, hair care and lip products. Specification tables sit on the application pages.

Unrefined Grade A for Cosmetics

Unrefined Grade A shea butter for cosmetics: INCI, 2–20 % inclusion, 4–11 % unsaponifiables and the FFA, PV and colour specs to request.

Unrefined Grade A for Lip Balm

Unrefined Grade A shea butter for lip balm: melting point, taste, peroxide value and graininess control, with the spec table to request.

Unrefined Grade A for Hair Care

Unrefined Grade A shea butter for hair care: melting point, spreadability, inclusion rates and the FFA, PV and odour specs to request.

Unrefined Grade A for Body Butter & Lotion

Unrefined Grade A shea butter for body butter and lotion: whipping behaviour, graininess control, emulsion loading and the specs to request.

Refined N-RBD for Cosmetics

Refined N-RBD shea butter for cosmetics: white, odourless, low-FFA butter for colour-critical, fragrance-sensitive skincare.

Refined N-RBD for Body Butter & Lotion

Refined N-RBD shea butter for body butter and lotion: texture and slip after refining, whipping structure, and the melting-point spec to request.

Refined N-RBD for Lip Balm

Refined N-RBD shea butter for lip balm: odourless, tasteless, white base for flavoured and tinted sticks, with melting point and PV specs.

Soap

Cold-process and commercial soap. The specification table sits on the soap-making application page.

Unrefined Grade A for Soap Making

Unrefined Grade A shea butter for soap making: SAP value, NaOH factor about 0.

Food & confectionery

Edible fats, bakery and cocoa butter equivalent use. Specification tables sit on the food and CBE application pages.

Refined N-RBD for Food Manufacturing

Refined N-RBD shea butter for food manufacturing: very low FFA and PV, food-grade documents and HACCP status stated as they are.

Refined N-RBD for Chocolate (CBE)

Refined N-RBD shea butter for chocolate (CBE): stearic/oleic profile, slip point and the EU 5% vegetable-fat rule.

Pharmaceutical

Topical excipient use. The specification table sits on the pharmaceutical excipient application page.

Refined N-RBD for Pharmaceutical Excipient Use

Refined N-RBD shea butter for pharmaceutical excipient use: purity, residual-solvent statements and TDS — not a finished-drug claim.

Not sure which buyer type you are?

Which EMI Agro buyer-type page fits your situation
Your situation	Go to
You formulate your own products and sell under your brand	Indie cosmetic brands
You buy finished or semi-finished bulk butter and sell it under your brand without formulating	Private-label buyers
You manufacture for other brands under their specification	Contract manufacturers
You resell ingredient to many customers in your market	Distributors & wholesalers
You make bar or liquid soap	Soap makers
You use fats in food, bakery or chocolate	Food manufacturers
You need an excipient with documentation	Pharmaceutical buyers

How buying from EMI Agro works for every buyer type

The path is the same whether you make a cream, a bar of soap or a filling: sample, trial, then regular supply. Minimums, lead time and payment are confirmed on the quote for the grade and destination you name. Packaging options sit on the products hub. The full path is in the full sample-to-container playbook.

1
Request a sample
Tell us the grade and what you make. We confirm sample size, cost and dispatch on that request.
2
Place a trial order
Approve the sample against the Certificate of Analysis, then order a first production quantity on the same specification.
3
Move to regular supply
Scheduled repeat orders once the trial is in your products. Preferred pricing, where offered, follows a trading history and sits on the quote.

Products

Unrefined Grade A, refined N-RBD and shea press cake.

Suppliers by country

Supplier pages for your market.

Buyer playbooks

Sourcing, qualifying, first containers and QC.

Guides

Import, COA, storage and refining.

Complete guide to shea butter

Origin, grades, specifications and sourcing.

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed September 2026 by EMI Agro Industries QC team.

Manufacturer-direct from Ibadan, Nigeria

Tell us who you are and what you make.

We will point you to the right grade, format and documents — and send a sample or COA to match.

You have just read Shea Butter by Industry and Buyer Type. The next step is a real lot from the factory that produces it — EMI Agro, with factory-direct pricing and a batch Certificate of Analysis.

Trusted manufacturer
EMI Agro Industries Limited (RC 9364495) presses the butter in Ibadan — we are not a trading company.
Competitive factory-direct prices
Quoted EXW, FOB or CIF — the buyer chooses. You pay the factory, not a chain of middlemen.
Export-ready supply
We ship to European Union, United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Southeast Asia, China, India, Middle East, Latin America. Load ports: Apapa (Lagos) or Tin Can Island (Lagos).
Documented lots
40 tonnes per week of finished shea butter, a Certificate of Analysis on every batch, NAFDAC registered and SON approved.

Request a quote Request a sample