Fair Trade Sierra Leonean Cocoa Butter

The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) grows in warm, humid forests near the equator. It yields large dark red or yellow pods containing up to 50 seeds each, coated by soft, edible flesh. The seeds, also called cocoa beans, are covered to ferment and then dried. During this process, they lose their acidic taste and develop their familiar chocolate scent.

 To obtain cocoa butter and powder, the prepared beans are cleaned, dried and roasted and then ground into a thick, oily paste called chocolate liquor. The liquor can be used as such for chocolate-making or subjected to high pressure to separate the cocoa powder from the butter. An additional step can be carried out to deodorise the butter to remove any trace of the chocolate smell. This often happens for its use in cosmetics as the smell could interfere with other scents. 

Cocoa butter contains oleic acid, a mono-unsaturated fatty acid that is highly compatible with our body's natural sebum and allows the butter to be more easily absorbed into the skin. 

It also contains stearic acid, a skin-softening fatty acid that acts as an emulsifier. This means that the butter helps bind oil and water together, preventing products from separating. Combined with the solid nature of the butter, this emulsifying property creates tight emulsions that leave no room for microbes to move and grow, helping products to remain fresher for longer.

Lush source this cocoa butter from an organic supplier who’s been investing to help restore Sierra Leone's Gola rainforest by opening farmer field schools that teach regenerative agriculture and by supporting local farmers. This support ranges from access to these schools, helping obtain Fair Trade and/or organic certifications, to selling the butter worldwide at a fair price.