Wholesale Starter
Evaluate cooperative-direct ingredients at 5 kg, before you commit to volume. Our minimum is 5 kg per ingredient, deliberately, and it is the same 5 kg for everyone.
For indie brands and formulators ready to evaluate quality
Most wholesale chebe, ambunu and shea suppliers set the minimum order quantity at 20 kg or higher. For an indie brand testing an ingredient for the first time, that means committing several hundred dollars to a quality risk you have not yet validated.
Our floor is 5 kg per ingredient, for every buyer, with no separate tier and no application to fill in. You order 5 kg of any ingredient in our line, at unit pricing that reflects small-batch logistics honestly. Same source, same documentation, same DHL Express handling as our 100 kg accounts. You validate quality in your own lab, then scale into better unit pricing at 10, 20, 50 and 100 kg through the Wholesale Program.
Entry pricing
Prices below are our published product prices, excluding freight and any import duties. Unit pricing improves at every tier above 10 kg. Your exact quote depends on the lot and your shipping destination.
| Ingredient | 5 kg | 10 kg | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw shea butter | $135 | $223 | Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso |
| Moringa leaf powder | $175 | $290 | Southern Benin or Tamale corridor, Ghana |
| Ambunu leaves | $180 | $299 | Guéra, Chad |
| Chebe powder | $210 | $350 | Guéra, Chad |
| Hibiscus calyx | $250 | $420 | Sahel region |
| Spirulina (Dihé) | $310 | $520 | Lake Chad, harvested by Kanembu women |
What is included in every starter order
- Lot certificate with harvest date, cooperative name, batch ID, and moisture content.
- Certificate of analysis covering microbiology and heavy metals. Pesticide residue panels on request.
- Photo evidence at source, taken at the cooperative within 30 days of your order.
- Phytosanitary certificate for international shipments, required for customs clearance in EU, UK, US, Canada, Australia.
- Named cooperative lead contact, available for independent verification by your QC team.
- DHL Express tracking, 5 to 9 business days to most destinations from our Cotonou warehouse.
How the starter process works
- Submit the inquiry form below. We reply within 24 business hours with a signed quote, current lead times, and the lot certificates from the most recent batch in stock.
- Place the starter order. Bank transfer or card. Starter orders are payable in full at order confirmation, there is no split deposit at this size.
- Receive and validate. Your QC team evaluates against your incumbent supplier. Typical transit 5 to 9 business days via DHL Express.
- Scale up. Once your team approves the quality, unit pricing improves at the 10, 20, 50 and 100 kg tiers on the Wholesale Program, with recurring shipment terms agreed directly.
Why our floor is 5 kg when most suppliers set 20
Because we built Essential Care Plus to serve the indie brands and formulators who carry African ingredient traditions forward. The same brands Design Essentials and McBride Research Laboratories once were, before they reached the scale that justifies container volumes. A 20 kg floor effectively excludes those brands from cooperative-direct sourcing and pushes them back through brokers. We refuse to be that filter.
Starter orders are priced to cover small-batch logistics honestly, without subsidising them from volume accounts. If you grow with us, the tier pricing on the Wholesale Program reflects that volume relationship.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a free sample before ordering?
Small representative samples are available on request when you are scoping a genuine volume requirement, and we send them via DHL Express within 24 to 48 hours of confirmation. But for a real formulation trial we recommend a paid 5 kg starter order instead. A sample tells you what the powder looks like; 5 kg tells you how it behaves in your formulation, which is the question that actually decides the purchase.
Do I need a registered company to order at 5 kg?
You need a legitimate business name, a shipping address that customs can clear, and a tax ID if your country requires one. We do not require LLC paperwork or revenue thresholds, and there is no account approval queue. Most starter customers are early-stage indie brands, formulators, or contract manufacturers running pilot batches.
How fast can you ship 5 kg of chebe?
From order confirmation to your dock, typically 5 to 9 business days for the US, UK and EU, including order processing. DHL handles the customs entry. Note that duties now apply to US shipments of any value since the de minimis exemption ended on 29 August 2025, so budget for import charges. Track and trace runs from Cotonou to destination.
Are your ingredients certified organic?
No. Neither we nor our partner cooperatives hold organic certification, and we will not claim one. Several ingredients are wild-harvested, which cannot be certified under schemes designed for cultivated land. What we document instead is origin, cooperative, harvest window and processing method, per lot. Status per ingredient →
What if the quality does not meet my QC standard?
Send us your QC report. If the deviation is on our side (moisture above spec, foreign matter, contamination), we replace the batch at no cost. Starter customers carry the same quality guarantee as our volume accounts.
Can I order multiple ingredients in one starter shipment?
Yes, and we recommend it. A combined shipment, for example 5 kg chebe plus 5 kg ambunu, consolidates DHL Express costs and lets your team validate both ingredients in one evaluation cycle.
Request your starter quote
Tell us which ingredients matter for your current pipeline. We reply within 24 business hours with a signed quote and the latest lot certificates from stock.
Already buying 20 kg or more per ingredient ? Go straight to the full Wholesale Program for tier pricing and recurring shipment terms.