Frequently asked questions.

Whyte Leafe Group is a Ghana shea butter and dried fruit exporter supplying business buyers in cosmetics, personal care, food and ingredient distribution. Whyte Leafe Group is the trading name; the UK legal entity is Whyte Leafe International Ltd, registered at Companies House under company number 15780425 and incorporated on 15 June 2024. It has an office in London and operations in Accra, and ships from Tema, Ghana.

The Whyte Leafe Group story

No. Whyte Leafe Group, written as two words "Whyte Leafe", is the trading name of Whyte Leafe International Ltd (Companies House 15780425), an agricultural export business. It is not connected with Whyteleafe, the village in Surrey, or with other companies whose names contain "Whyteleafe" or "Whyte", including Whyteleafe Group Limited (company 03890945), a separate company that was dissolved in December 2021.

Whyte Leafe Group has a UK office at 124 City Road, London EC1V 2NX, and operations at 609 Abayateye St, Nanakrom, East Legon Hills, Accra, Ghana. Shipments leave from the port of Tema, Ghana.

Email trade@whyteleafegroup.com for samples, specifications and quotes, or info@whyteleafegroup.com for anything else. Procurement enquiries are answered within one business day.

Whyte Leafe Group supplies unrefined and refined shea butter made by traditional handcrafted extraction with no chemical solvents. RBD (refined, bleached and deodorised) shea butter, shea olein and shea stearin are refined and fractionated by Whyte Leafe Group in Ghana, against a signed specification.

Bulk shea butter buying guide

The INCI name is Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, CAS number 91080-23-8, EINECS 293-515-7. The source species is Vitellaria paradoxa.

Shea butter specification

Whyte Leafe Group's shea comes from wild Vitellaria paradoxa trees in the savannah belt of northern Ghana, with regional aggregation across the wider West African shea belt. Supply is aggregated under the Sankofa Programme, which documents provenance from the producer network to the port of Tema.

Shea butter from Ghana

Whyte Leafe Group does not describe its shea as organic, Fairtrade or COSMOS unless a current certificate covers the lot. If your brand needs a certified ingredient, say so in your enquiry and the trade team will confirm in writing what can be supplied.

RBD shea butter is whole shea butter that has been refined, bleached and deodorised. Refining removes gums and free fatty acids, bleaching uses adsorbent earth (no chlorine) to remove pigment, and steam deodorisation under vacuum removes odour. Whyte Leafe Group refines, bleaches and deodorises Ghana-origin shea itself, in Ghana.

RBD shea butter

Cosmetic grade is the core offer. Food-grade RBD shea, olein or stearin is supplied only on qualification, from a food-certified facility, with contaminant testing suited to the destination market, and is confirmed in writing per order.

They are the two fractions of refined shea butter, separated by controlled crystallisation. Shea olein is the liquid, oleic-rich fraction used in hair oils, lotions and soap. Shea stearin is the hard, stearic-rich fraction used in cocoa butter equivalents, confectionery fats and cosmetic sticks.

Shea stearin for CBE and specialty fats

Whyte Leafe Group exports Ghana-origin dried mango, dried pineapple, dried coconut (desiccated, flakes, chips, husk fibre) and dried lemon, in slices, chunks, powders and other formats per product. Peel derivatives are available for nutraceutical and cosmetic buyers.

Specialty dried fruits

Yes. Whyte Leafe Group's dried mango, pineapple, coconut and lemon are supplied sulphite-free; for mango and pineapple, sulphites are specified as not detected.

Orders run from trial lots to full containers. New buyers usually take a sample, then a trial shipment, then a scale programme. [TBC: minimum trial lot for shea butter and for dried fruit.] RBD shea butter is available from 1 MT trial lots, then 5 MT and full-container tiers.

Shea butter ships in 25 kg cartons, 25 kg pails or 180 kg drums. Dried fruit ships in export cartons and lined sacks, with the formats listed on each product page.

Packaging and order sizes

Whyte Leafe Group ships FOB Tema or CIF to your destination port, quoted per lane and schedule. Payment is by irrevocable confirmed Letter of Credit at sight, or 30–50% advance with balance against shipping documents. Terms are agreed per client.

Lead times are confirmed per order, because they depend on the product, the season, the packaging format and the sailing schedule from Tema. [TBC: typical lead time from confirmed order to FOB Tema.] Every quote states the shipment window.

Every shipment carries a batch certificate of analysis (COA), a safety data sheet (SDS), a certificate of origin issued by GEPA, a commercial invoice and packing list, and the bill of lading. Phytosanitary or health documents are added where required.

Quality and documents

Yes. Samples are sent with a COA so your lab or formulation team can test them before a trial shipment. [TBC: standard sample size, cost and courier terms.]

Yes. Third-party inspection by SGS or Intertek, or another buyer-nominated inspector, can be arranged on request before the goods leave Tema.