20 Questions to Ask a Shea Butter Supplier

Ask this first because the invoice, the bank account and the company registry must match. A good answer names the legal entity, the registration number, the registered address and any export registration, and invites you to look them up. Vague trading names, a different name on the pro-forma, or a refusal to give a number are stop signals. Nigerian manufacturers should be able to quote a CAC RC number. You are not asking for a brochure line; you are asking for an identifier you can verify before a deposit leaves your account. See About EMI Agro for one published example of a registration number on a manufacturer page.

A manufacturer can describe the press, the filter and the intake test; a trader can describe the supplier they bought from. Both can be honest, but they are not the same offer. A good answer says which one they are, names the plant or the upstream manufacturer, and does not hide a trading desk behind “our factory”. If they are a trader, ask who pressed the lot and whether you may see that manufacturer’s certificate. Identity and FFA problems start at the kernel, so you need to know who controlled intake.

Origin is a traceability and season question, not a slogan. A good answer names the country and the states or regions, and can say whether the lot is a single-origin intake or a blend. Village-level personal data is not required. “West Africa” without a country is not an answer. EMI Agro sources through cooperatives in Kwara, Niger, Kaduna and Kogi; other suppliers should be able to name their own belt. Pair the answer with the producing-regions list so you know what “north-central Nigeria” actually means.

Almost all commercial West African shea is wild-collected from parkland trees; plantation shea is rare. A good answer says wild-collection and describes the cooperative or trader model. “Organic from our farm” with no location or certification status is a weak answer. If a supplier claims plantation, ask for the farm location and any certificate — and do not treat the claim as a grade. See Vitellaria paradoxa.

Who pays the collector affects how kernels are dried and how FFA starts. A good answer names the purchasing model — cooperatives, licensed buyers, village traders — and can say how lots are kept separate at intake. “We work with women” without a structure is marketing, not a sourcing answer. You do not need household names. You do need to know whether a high-FFA village pile can be mixed into your Grade A lot. Ask what happens when an intake sample fails, then read the free-fatty-acid specification to see why that gate matters.

A typical-values sheet is a promise, not a lot result. A good answer is a certificate with a lot or batch identity, a limit, a result and an AOCS or ISO method on each line. Unsigned PDFs, scans without methods, or a sheet reused for every enquiry are incomplete. Ask for the certificate of the lot you would be shipped, not last season’s marketing COA. The sample certificate page shows the shape of a method-referenced report.

Free fatty acid and moisture do not prove identity. A good answer includes saponification value, refractive index, iodine value and unsaponifiables, or an honest statement that those lines are tested on a retain or by a named third party, with method references. A certificate that only reports acidity is unverified shea. Paste the numbers into the COA interpreter.

Free fatty acid is a raw-material and post-harvest problem. Pressing does not lower it; only refining removes it. A good answer states a numeric intake gate and says, for unrefined Grade A, that they do not chemically refine a lot to chase acidity. Do not accept “we keep FFA low” without a number and a sampling basis. EMI’s published FFA limit is on the free-fatty-acid specification and the batch certificate. Use the titration calculator if you will test a sample yourself.

“Grade A” without a standard is a marketing label. A good answer names the standard and the clause or table, and a Nigerian manufacturer should be able to speak to NIS 571:2013 and show how the factory SOP maps to it. “International quality” with no number is a weak answer. Ask which AOCS or ISO methods sit behind each certificate line. The specifications hub is the reference; contractual limits are still those on the batch certificate.

A finished-batch certificate cannot rescue a mixed high-FFA pile. A good answer names the parameters, the frequency — every lot versus skip-lot — and the reject or downgrade rule. “We test everything” without a basis is not an answer. You want to know whether a fail is isolated, blended away or sold as a lower grade. The quality page is where a manufacturer should already publish the outline.

White, odourless “unrefined” is a mislabel or a refine. A good answer describes the process — cold-pressed and filtered, or neutralised, bleached and deodorised — and matches it with sensory notes and the colour line on the certificate. Ask them to say which product you are being offered, not “shea butter” in the abstract. The grades page and the colour specification are the checks.

Process decides residue, moisture and the story you can print on a pack. A good answer names mechanical pressing or solvent extraction, the filter steps, and whether the lot is winterised. “Cold-pressed” should mean no solvent and no chemical refine for an unrefined Grade A claim. Ask whether they double-filter and how they control moisture after the press. The unrefined Grade A product page states EMI’s process.

A quality system is defined by its fails, not its passes. A good answer says whether a fail is rejected, downgraded, refined, or blended, and which fail types can never enter a Grade A unrefined shipment. “We have no fails” is not credible. You want a written rule you can put in a quality agreement. Pair this with the identity-signs list: an identity fail cannot be refined away, while a high FFA unrefined lot can only be refined or sold as a lower grade.

A sample lot is not a container programme. A good answer states a capacity they can actually commit to, in tonnes or drums per month, and says what happens if an order exceeds it. Vague “unlimited” claims are not planning numbers. Ask every supplier for their own number and lead-time assumption, then match capacity to your forecast before you design a launch around one plant. See products and terms.

Qualification needs your numbers, or a named laboratory’s numbers, not only the seller’s. A good answer states a sample size and freight rule in writing, a retain period, and a willingness to ship to a laboratory you name. “Sample available” without saying it is from the offered lot is incomplete. Ask for the same batch identity on the sample, the retain and the shipment. Request a sample starts that request.

Customs and inbound QA both fail on missing papers. A good answer names the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, batch certificate of analysis, and any regulator export document the destination needs — named, not “all certificates”. Ask which of those they issue versus which a forwarder issues.

Packaging and port decide landed cost and warehouse handling. A good answer names drum or carton formats, net weight, and the load port — for Nigerian exports, often a named Lagos terminal — plus any fumigation or stuffing rule. “Export packing” without a kilogram figure is not actionable. Packaging formats are on the products page. Ask for the same format on the sample and the first order so your inbound test is on the pack you will receive.

Organic, Halal and ISO claims without a status word are common. A good answer uses the words on the certificate — registered, approved, certified, in progress — plus number, expiry and issuer. “In pursuit” should be stated as such. Do not let a website icon stand in for a file. EMI’s status is on the quality page.

A Nigerian export lot and a European or United States inbound lot are not the same paperwork set. A good answer names the documents they can supply for your destination — certificate of origin, phytosanitary or health certificate if required, and any inspection scheme — and says which they cannot. “We handle all documents” without a list is not a planning answer. Pair this with the shipment-documents question so commercial and regulatory files are both named. See quality for the documents EMI already publishes.

Commercial fit is a number, a named Incoterm and a time range. A good answer states quantity in kilograms, drums or containers, a named Incoterm plus place, a lead-time range, and the packaging formats that apply. “Flexible MOQ” without a unit is not actionable. EMI’s terms are confirmed on the quote. Ask every supplier the same three questions so quotes are comparable.