August 2009 ASBI Shea Butter Certificate

Last August, some new tests have been conducted with the ASBI to track the quality of the unrefined shea butter we’ve imported from the Shea Butter Village in Tamale. Solidity Trade has been striving to make sure that the quality will improve or remain consistent over time.

The test release shows that the unrefined shea butter that we have imported on our second container has been graded B. Please feel free to click on the following link to take a look at our certification: August 2009 ASBI Shea Butter Certificate

East Asian Developments: A Beginning

During summer 2009, the Solidity Trade team made efforts to establish new business relationships throughout the East Asian region. The aim of this mission was to expand into new markets that have positive growth potential and could help increase our global reach.

In fact, Asian countries such as Korea have their own set of specific requirements and rules which differ significantly from the United States. Nevertheless, Solidity Trade is proud to announce that it has made its first sale in Korea and has started to establish an Asian distribution network in Korea and China and soon a new distribution network aimed at the Japanese market.

Thanks to these new developments, we will be able to distribute and increased amount of unrefined shea butter to these countries by shipping full containers on a regular basis to supply our warehouse in 2010.

Solidity Trade Introduces New Product: Shea Oil

After working on several months on shea butter, Solidity Trade team has chosen to broaden its product lines for the Northern American market and will be delivering to its customers shea oil for cosmetic purpose.

Cosmetic Shea Oil is a new product of SEKAF GHANA and Solidity Trade partnership. The product will be launched in July 2009 and you can soon order some samples on Solidity Trade website.

Here are more information about shea oil :

Chemical properties :

• High content of Diglycérides
• High content of unsaponifiables
• High content of Triterpen alcool esters (Stérols esters )
• Excellent moisturizer and emollient
• Easy to include in cosmetic formulations
• Lower molecular weight
• High composition in Essential Fatty Acids (EFA)

Shea Oil is an excellent alternative to the semi-solid Shea butter in many types of cosmetic formulation for many types of cosmetic products. Shea Oil helps to protect the epidermis and maintain the integrity of the stratum corneum, thanks to its composition in Essential Fatty Acids (EFA), vitamins and unsaponifiable (7-8%) matters. Shea oil is also has a good moisturizing and skin softening effect generally associated with Shea butter.

Shea Oil can be used as an active carrier for skin care emulsions because of its lower molecular weight. The liquid physical character of Shea Oil makes it easy to formulate with, there is no need for handling solids and heating to melt the ingredient before use. Because Shea Oil is liquid at room temperature, it can be used in cold-process formulations.

Shea Oil is has a good stability versus oxidation. This character helps lower the levels of anti-oxidants contained in the finish products.Shea Oil is also a good emollient for anhydrous products where the high level of bioactive shea unsaponifiables can contribute to skin repair and soothing action.

Applications
Shea Oil is a good emollient and moisturizer in all types of skin care creams and lotions. The liquid character makes it easy to formulate emulsions with no adverse crystallization effects and a high content of the Shea butter unsaponifiables.

Shea Oil can be used in the following application:

• Facial care
• Body care
• Sun-care and sunscreens

Shea Oil can also be used as a liquid emollient in anhydrous products ranging from body butters to lip balms and colour cosmetics. Shea Oil is also a good ingredient for hair care applications where 0.5-1 % addition in a conditioner may help to improve gloss and moisture retention in the hair.

Shea Conference 2009

During the 3 days conference, Solidity Trade had the chance to present its company to the participants in Ouagadougou. The theme of the conference was Optimization of the Value Chain. During the presentation our CEO was demonstrating how Solidity Trade was trying to optimize the value chain to capture more value for the African women in poor rural areas in West Africa.

You can take a look at Solidity Trade presentation and following the presentation at the same time by clicking here : Shea Value Conference Presentation

Shea Global Value Chain

Solidity Trade has been invited to the Shea Global Value Chain this year in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso by one of the sponsoring company ECOCERT from the 25th to the 27th of March 2009.

In order to meet the different associations, certification agents and buyers of shea butter, Solidity Trade will assign its CEO. He will be able to answer the questions and meet the representatives of the different companies to improve some partnerships, close deals and discuss about the shea industry and its challenges, especially the economic and social impact of the shea industry on the lives of the women in poor rural areas of West Africa.

Solidity Trade chooses Ecocert as an organic certification partner for the unrefined shea butter

National Organic Program - United States Department of Agriculture

Solidity Trade has recently met the representatives of ECOCERT in France to discuss the opportunity of working together in Ghana to certify that the production of unrefined shea butter in the Shea Butter Village is 100% organic.

Solidity Trade will fully finance the organic certification of the Shea Butter Village in order to comply with the National Organic Program from the United States Department of Agriculture. This label will show the effort of Solidity Trade to support organic agriculture as there is an increasingly demand for organic unrefined shea butter in the US market as well as in the rest of the world. This market-oriented approach in the long run will bring new market opportunities and create more jobs for the women at the Shea Butter Village.

To know more about this company:

ECOCERT is an organic certification organization, founded in France in 1991. It is based in Europe but conducts inspections in over 80 countries, making it one of the largest organic certification organizations in the world.

ECOCERT’s co-founder and CEO is William Vidal. It began as a partnership between European nations, but has gradually expanded to many other nations around the world. The company’s French headquarters are located in L’Isle Jourdain, Gers, France, and its ECOCERT INTERNATIONAL division is based in Northeim, Germany.

ECOCERT primarily certifies food and food products, but also certifies cosmetics, detergents, perfumes, and textiles. The company inspects about 70% of the organic food industry in France and about 30% worldwide.

Source : www.ecocert.com

Introducing Solidity Trade

Welcome to the official blog of Solidity Trade:

This blog is aimed at keeping you informed on news concerning our company, our work and the progress we are making in developing Africa with a market-oriented approach.

Solidity Trade has the mission to source West African commodities and secure the logistics to build a solid relationship with international buyers. Our purpose is to help West African producers and their communities to market and sell their raw materials while meeting international standards of quality.

In the spirit of this mission, company founders Lam Tran and Fabien Nervais teamed to work on a project aimed at developing a product inherent to the African landscape — Ghanaian unrefined shea butter. Unrefined shea butter is a useful product that has several applications in cooking, hair, and skin care.

Increasingly, international companies are incorporating shea butter into their products such as shampoo, soaps, or lotions. Shea butter has tremendous potential for growth, however, this potential hasn’t adequately been addressed through Africa. The lack of availability in capital and the difficulty to access international markets haven’t allowed local African businesses to grow to their full potential and go beyond their own local market in a profitable way.

Based on this fact, Solidity Trade has developed a new business model that serves a dual purpose:

1. Creating jobs in poor areas to alleviate poverty
2. Lifting up the economic barriers to give access to international markets

For more information on an example company we have helped to market unrefined shea butter in the Northern America, please download the following PDF: Unrefined Shea Butter