TIMES - SWAZILAND : JUNE 2011 Swazi Secrets retailer wins African Women in Europe Award
As part of her prize package, Wood won a flight to Africa and while most thought she would fly to her native Ghana, she chose Swaziland to visit Swazi Secrets.
"We are delighted that she is taking the opportunity to come to Swaziland and visit Swazi Secrets," said John Pearce, the International Marketing Manager of Swazi Indigenous Products, the company responsible for manufacturing Swazi Secrets products using the marula fruit.
Wood has another link to Swaziland as she uses her profits from Swazi Secrets sales to sponsor a young boy from Mpaka, Vele Maziya, to attend St Joseph’s School.
Pearce said she was very much looking forward to the opportunity to visit him and check on his progress.
"Akua has been selling Swazi Secrets for four years now and has built up quite a link with Swaziland, both with us and with sponsoring Maziya’s education," he said. CLICK FOR FULL TEXT
TIMES NEWSPAPER - GHANA : APRIL 2011 Invest in shea butter industry to rake in funds
Government has been called upon to invest more resources in the shea butter industry to bring more revenue to the country. Mrs. Akua Wood, founder of the Sheabutter Cottage made the call during an interview with the Times in Accra CLICK FOR FULL TEXT
GETREADING BUSINESS POST: SEPTEMBER 2010 Mumpreneur is spreading success
A set of unfortunate circumstances let to mum Akua Wood starting her own business and now she not only runs it to help support her family but also to help families and farmers in Africa. She used her love of shea butter and knowledge of using natural products in her native Africa to create her products which are made from ingredients bought direct from farmer co-operatives in Ghana. Wood donates 10 per cent of the proceeds of every sale to the community in Ghana to help build public facilities CLICK FOR FULL TEXT
EASY LIVING: JUNE 2010IN THE KNOW - GHANAIAN STYLE - Interview with Phyllis Taylor of Sikadesigns.co.uk.
"My mother swore by shea butter and used it on me as a baby - I still use it today".
GETREADING : JANUARY 2010 Business starts and finishes at home
Ghanaian mum of two - Akua Wood is hoping to spread a little hope with her fair trade sheabutter.
To preside over a growing business that contributes in a number of different ways to my customers and to my supply chain. My current focus is helping a new co-operative in Northern Ghana which is setting up a sheabutter facility. I believe that this will have a long-term effect by creating jobs and help develop the area. If we can not help others less fortunate than ourselves, then it is a sad state of society. I feel passionate about lending a helping hand without analysing any personal benefits. CLICK FOR FULL TEXT
GREENFINDER BLOG: 25.NOV.2009Sheabutter Cottage is a fair trade, ethical business based in Reading and offers handmade AshantiGirl beaded jewellery, Cioccolatina natural toiletries and exotic butters & supplies. They take great pride in sourcing quality ingredients directly from farmers/producers or through community projects. As part of their helping hand programme, they will be donating 10% of every purchase from their webstore to the shea co-op they have adopted in Ghana. The new Women’s co-op is based in Gumu-Tamale and the money will be donated towards the development of a facility to provide: drying space for shea nuts, water storage, preparation shed, changing rooms and a creche to name but a few. By employing the women, they will be able to send their kids to school, provide food and empower them economically. Sheabutter cottage will also work with them to produce good quality butter and shea butter based soaps.
They are also donating 100% from the sale of their fundraising soap ‘Salamatu’ to the programme.
BLACK BEAUTY: JUNE/JULY 2009NUTS - A soap filled with toasted sesame seed oil and unrefined shea butter. Also carries an unforgettable nut fragrance.
READING POST : MARCH 2009 How butter can
spread a little hope
To
mark the end of Fairtrade Fortnight, which highlights the benefits
of buying ethically-sourced products until Sunday, we speak to
mum-of-two Akua Wood. She explains to City woman why
it's so important for her to support countries like her native Ghana
- and beyond.
Akua's goals
for the future are simple. She says: "I just want to make it
easier for everybody to get a pot of shea butter and I want to be
able to be able to help communities".
CLICK FOR FULL TEXT
SAPONIFIER MAGAZINE : JULY 2008Akua
Wood believes in giving support and fair deal to the people who
produce the ingredients which are at the heart of her pure, natural
and ethical bath and body products.
WOMAN ALIVE : FEBRUARY 2008These
moisturising lip balms (£2.99) are totally vegan and are made by
Cioccolatina, a company specialising in producing handmade organic
and natural toiletries.
INDIE ENTREPRENEUR : 4TH MAY 2007
Cioccolatina: Handmade Natural Skin Care -
Akua Wood
founded Cioccolatina in November 2002 in
response to her frustration in trying to find a natural range of
toiletries to moisturize her skin, as well as to fulfill her need to
work at home in order to look after her disabled daughter. Now, only
4 short years later, Cioccolatina has formed a cult following with
her fine range of shea butter, olive oil, and other natural skin
products. Akua shares her experiences in building Cioccolatina: Typical Customer
“I have a diverse range of customers all over the world. The typical
customer being 28 years of age and mainly female.”
Balancing Act
“Although I am self-employed, I work part-time. I do not have any
full time job and have to balance my time as a “mother/wife/business
woman”. As a parent, I work hard and long hours and have very little
time for myself.”
Typical Akua Day
“Most of my working days start at 07:30 and finish at 22:00. This is
mainly made up of responding to customers’ emails,
packing/dispatching orders and answering telephone calls."
DAILY TELEGRAPH : 25TH MARCH 2006
Ethical Beauty -
Founded by Akua Wood, a Ghanaian who settled in Britain two decades ago, this range of soaps, body butters and scrubs is made with ingredients imported from producers and farmer-run co-ops in Ghana via Wood's company Sheabutter Cottage. The hero ingredient is pure, unrefined shea butter, which comes from northern Ghana, where 300 women pick the nuts from the karité tree, then dry, boil, process, crush and churn them into shea butter for Wood's products.
Star turns - Cioccolatina Shea Body Butter, £10.75, is said to be wonderful for taking the itch out of eczema and dry skin. Other products include Shea Olea Lotion, £10, and Shea Butter Scrub, £10.
BBC BERKSHIRE : 20TH FEBRUARY 2006From
Ghana to Sonning -
How does a northern Ghanaian nut end up as a skin-care product in Sonning? We find out about the journey of a particular crop of shea nut and how a Berkshire fair trade company is helping to sustain an African community of women.
Akua Wood, a happy vivacious woman, sits in her little office in Sonning, surrounded by natural cosmetic pots and colourful African woven baskets. Four years ago she wouldn't have thought her extreme dry skin would lead her to set up a small business. And little did she know that her skin condition would end up forging a link between a community of women in northern Ghana and the picture-postcard village of Sonning in Berkshire.
TIME : 20TH NOVEMBER 2005
Beauty: Buttered Up -
When Akua Wood fell for a Brit and
moved to England with him 11 years ago, the cold, damp winters and raw
winds came as a shock—especially to her skin. A Ghanaian native who had
spent a year studying in Italy, she was used to kinder climes ... and
better moisturizers. So she made a virtue out of necessity and started
concocting her own, using an ingredient native to her country of birth:
shea butter. Since 2002 she has sold the moisturizer and other homemade
bath products under her Cioccolatina brand. Adherents are gluttons
for her Tiramisù body butter, Rooibos soap, Ashanti Gold soap and La
Mocha body scrub—and enjoy a clear conscience as well as clear skin. The
shea and other ingredients come from individual Ghanaian producers or
farmer-run co-ops; sellers are guaranteed a fair price. Since 2004 Wood
has imported ingredients in bulk for other European cosmetics
manufacturers, too (www.akuawood.co.uk).
And shea? It's her biggest seller, her bread-and-butter business.
Give your skin a treat with
Cioccolatina's range of handmade soaps and creams. This
classy range uses only the finest shea butter, olive oil and cocoa
butter, and because they're fragrance free they are perfect for dry and
sensitive skin
HERE'S HEALTH : FEBRUARY 2004 -
Scrub up Be gentle on your skin - go for natural soaps packed
with nourishing ingredients that smell good enough to eat.
Cioccolatina's Ashanti Gold is packed with moisturising olive oil,
goat's milk, shea butter and avocado oil.
Akua Wood is a mother of two young children who has her own small
cottage industry which she calls Cioccolatina. The name means
little chocolates in Italian and is a nickname she was given when she
studied in Busto-Arsizio, Italy. She chose the name Cioccolatina
because she wanted there to be something of a mystery as to what she
produces.
Her philosophy is about
moisturisation. Akua comes from Ghana where they use a lot of
herbs, cocoabutter and sheabutter to moisturise the skin. This is
reflected in most of the toiletries range.
