Story
From farm to port: the journey of a raw cashew nut
Follow a bag of raw cashew nuts from a grower’s yard in the south to a container bound for a processor abroad.
Most of Tanzania’s cashews grow on small farms in the south, in Mtwara, Lindi and Ruvuma. The harvest runs from October to January, and every nut we export starts its journey in a grower’s yard.
Step by step
- Collecting. Families gather the nuts once they fall, twist off the cashew apple and keep the nut.
- Drying. The nuts are spread in the sun for two to three days, until they rattle in the shell.
- Buying. We source from cooperatives and suppliers we know, and take a sample from every lot.
- Checking. Moisture, nut count and outturn are tested and recorded before the lot is accepted.
- Bagging. The nuts go into 80 kg jute bags, each marked with its lot number.
- Shipping. The bags are loaded into containers at Mtwara or Dar es Salaam for processors abroad.
From there our buyers take over, steaming, shelling, peeling and grading the kernels for their own customers. Our part is to make sure that what arrives is exactly what was agreed.
