RAW CASHEW NUT
The cashew nut is the seed nestled inside a shell that grows on the fruit of the cashew tree. The nut has to be removed and roasted the nut in the shell before it can be eaten.
OUR LOCATIONS
Cashew is grown in most of the tropical countries in the world. Commercial cashew production is concentrated in 4 main production areas which are South Eastern Asia, East Africa, West Africa and Brazil.
We operate in West Africa & East Africa production areas correspondingly in
Benin
Ghana
Guinea Bissau
Tanzania
PRODUCT SUPPLY CHAIN
Production
Globally, cashew is cultivated in 7.1 million hector area with a production yield of 3.9 million tons cashew nuts, with shell or RCN in 2019.
Africa is the biggest producer of cashews, followed by Asia and Americas. The crop is available all around the year due to the different harvesting cycle in Northern and Southern hemisphere. The harvesting cycle is from February to September in Northern Hemisphere and October to January in Southern Hemisphere. Northern hemisphere produces 84% of cashews and Southern hemisphere region produces 16% but have a competitive advantage due to their harvest calendar which falls in the festival duration.
Cashew Harvesting Cycle
West Africa has two harvest seasons, with Central and Eastern West Africa having harvest season from February to May and Western West Africa having harvest season from April to July which are labelled as West Africa I and II respectively
Trade
Warehouse
Sun Drying
After harvesting, cashew nuts are immediately placed out in the sun to dry and are continuously mixed until the nuts in their shells get to around 8 to 9% rest moisture. Cashews in shell and kernel are stored in dry (<65%relative humidity), dark, cool (<10 ºC/50 ºF), and well-ventilated conditions.
Quality Standards
Quality standards for raw cashew nuts have to be formed irrespective of whether procurement is from domestic or foreign sources. The following points have to be considered to maintain quality of raw nuts.
- Floaters should be as minimum as possible.
- Sufficiently developed and with full ripeness or maturity.
- Free from living insects or mites whatever their stage of development and visible damage by insects, mites or parasites.
- Specified moisture content.
In order to maintain the quality of raw nuts for successful processing : farmers have to be educated on method and stage of harvest, price of nuts has to be fixed on the basis of size of nuts and its moisture content, high degree of cleanliness has to be maintained in drying yard and storage godown. Raw nuts in warehouses should be monitored at regular intervals for its quality and it should be provided with ventilation and sufficient aeration.
Storage
This is storing the procured raw cashew nuts for processing throughout the year. Processors must secure their raw cashew nuts during the cashew season which lasts three to four months every year. Proper warehousing prevents damage to the nuts by insect pests and pathogenic organisms. It maintains the quality of the nuts throughout the year. The dried, calibrated nuts are packaged in jute bags with standard net weight of 80 kg per bag and arranged in stacks on pallets to avoid contact with the floor and thus prevent the dried cashew nuts from absorbing moisture. The stacks are placed in one-metre distance to the walls and with two to five metres’ space between the roof of the warehouse and the top of stacks to avoid excessive heating and scorching of the raw cashew nuts. Properly arranged stacks enable visible counting of the bags, which facilitates control of the stock throughout the year. The warehouse should be well ventilated to minimise humidity and be equipped with fire extinguishers.
Logistics
Container Stuffing
Container stuffing is the process by which Raw cashew nuts are loaded into a container to be shipped. Container stuffing isn’t just a matter of randomly placing items in a container until it reached capacity. It is a process that requires careful planning that takes into consideration the unloading or de-stuffing process. The container also has to be well balanced for transit and it is important to make sure that incompatible and dangerous products aren’t shipped together. This planning process is crucial to ensure that products aren’t damaged while they are in transit and that the de-stuffing process can take place safely on the other end.
Fumigation
Fumigation is a method of killing pests, termites or any other harmful living organisms to prevent the transfer of exotic organisms.The process of fumigation varies accordingly to the content of the container.
In some cases, an empty container is fumigated before the loading of goods. However, the most-common process involves fumigation after the stuffing of cargo is complete and door of the container is closed. This process of fumigation is more effective, as the gases used for fumigation circulate inside the container. Nonetheless, this method of fumigation is not allowed for cargo involving certain food products for direct consumption and other specified goods.
Shipping
Shipping is the physical moving of loaded container goods (RCN) from sourcing port to destination port, such as the moving of merchandise from the warehouse to the customer.
Processing
“Easy to grow, hard to shell” could be the slogan for cashew nuts as the removal of the hard outer shell is a complicated process. However, shelling can be a rewarding activity as it involves significant value addition.
Processing is classified into three major activities.
- Shelling: To remove the nutshell.
- Peeling: To remove the testa skin (husk)
- Grading: Grade the nuts per size
In Shell Cashews
Processing Capacity
Cashew nut for consumption was commercialized by Indians in 19th century and they are the inventors of industrialized cashew processing technique. India was the cashew processing country till 2010, when Vietnam took the baton by processing more cashews. Vietnam and India are the leading cashew processing countries, which processed 3.2 million tons of RCN i.e., 82% of global production in 2018. Vietnam and India have installed processing capacity of 1.65 and 1.52 million tons and imported 1.3 and 0.85 million tons of RCN in 2019 respectively.
Consumption
Cashew nut is consumed in various forms. Whole, broken and split are the major categories. Whole nuts are the most valuable, globally consumed directly as snacks. Broken and split are used as ingredients in cooking, confectionary, baking, breakfast cereals etc.
- India is the biggest consumer of cashew nuts, consuming 275.000 tons in 2019. In Indian market, 60% of cashew nut is consumed as ingredient in sweets, food curry, ice cream, biscuits and mixed snacks known as namkeen and 40% is consumed as healthy snacks.
- North America, USA & Canada is the second biggest consumer, followed by Europe and China.
- Except India, 90% of cashew nut is consumed directly as snack, mostly in value added form like roasted or fried cashews. 10% of cashew nut is used as ingredient.
- Covid-19 has severely impacted the cashew industry. In EU & North America, signs of recovery are seen by the end of 2020 and India will take much time than the peers to recover to the pre-Covid level of consumption.
