CASHEW NUTS TRADING.. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.

CASHEW NUT is a commodity and agro export crops. Though active to South America, it is cultivated in some parts of West, Middlebelt and Eastern Nigeria. Areas like Ogbomosho, Ilorin, Oyo, Anyigba, Enugu, Lafia, Keffi etc.
The cashew nut tree is mostly cultivated for its nuts: the raw cashew nut is gray in color with about 3mm thick shell, inside this shell is the edible kernel covered by a light brown skin. It is either exported as raw cashew nut, i.e. in-shell or as processed cashew nut kernel in special packaging.
Most raw cashew nut is exported to India and Vietnam while the processed cashew kernel is exported to Europe and America being the largest consumer in the world.
The crop season in Nigeria is from February - May.

HANDLING.
A raw cashew nut that looks good on the outside may have bad kernel inside. The yield of the kernels, percentage of defective, average size of the nuts and moisture content are used to determine the quality of the nuts, which usually determines the price a buyer may offer for any raw cashew nut.
Hence effort should be made to improve or conserve the expected good quality derived from proper handling.

THE FOLLOWING GOOD PRACTISE CAN HELP TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF CASHEW NUTS.
Do not harvest or pluck unripe cashew nuts because the kernel may be shriveled or immature. Hence, only mature and ripe cashew nuts should be harvested and this be done daily.
Do not let the nuts remain on the ground for more than a day before gathering to avoid long contact with soil moisture, sprouting and deterioration e.g. decay.
Sundry the harvested nuts as soon as possible for two or three days depending on the intensity of the sun.
Sundry on a clean surface and should be lightly spread (not higher than 3 inches) and turned regularly to allow uniform dryness.
Do not expose dry cashew nuts to moisture. This is a major requirement for agricultural commodities.
Use only jute bags to bag raw cashew nuts.
Do not heap it un-bagged or in plastic containers to avoid deterioration especially if not properly dried.
Do not bag it in poly-propylene bags.



QUALITY STANDARD.
Cashew nuts meant for export must be thoroughly dry and reasonably free from extraneous matter such as sticks, stalks and other vegetable matter other than cashew nuts. It must also be free from stones.
Total impurities (stones, sticks, stalks and other vegetable matter) shall not exceed 0.5% of 1kg sample analyzed.

NUT COUNTS:
170 – 180 ……………….. EXCELLENT
181 – 190 ……………….. VERY GOOD
191 – 200 ……………….. GOOD
201 – 210 ……………….. MIDDLE
211 – 220 ………………. LOW MIDDLE
221 – 230 ………………. LIMIT ACCEPTABLE
ABOVE 230 ………………. POOR.

Note: 170 – 210 nut count is usually the benchmark for exporting raw cashew nuts. But some importers may not be willing to buy RCN that is above 200 nut counts.
In Nigeria, the nut count per 1kg sample varies from zone to zone. While zones like Ogbomosho has between 170 and 180/185, kogi – 190 to 205/210, ondo – 190 to 205/210, Ilorin – 190 to 205, lafia/keffi – 200 to 210, etc.


MOISTURE.
Exportable quality shall not be more than 10%. You have to make sure the raw cashew nuts are properly sundried and the moisture content must be properly analyzed.

KERNEL OUT-TURN RATION (KOR)
It is the quality of good nut we get from 80kg of raw cashew nuts. The count is in pound per 80kg.
KOR REMARK
48 – 55 EXCELLENT
45 – 47 GOOD
40 – 44 AVERAGE
BELOW 40 LOW/POOR

DEFECTIVES
Diseased or mouldy – shall include all nuts which when cut reveal the presence of fungi growth or a milky patch or a spread of brown or black spot on the split kernel.
This is often caused by high moisture for several days prior to proper dryings, wrong packing and improper storage.

BROWN RANCID ROTTEN (BRR) – shall include all brown, rancid, rotten and discolored kernels which are light yellowish in color. This is caused by similar factors listed above.

VOID – these are nuts which show absence of kernel, emptiness or absence of a kernel of useful size. This is probably caused by natural malformation.

IMMATURE/SHRIVELED – shall include all nuts which when cut contain space between the kernel and the shell, shrink or contain kernel that is not fully developed. This is caused by harvesting immature nuts.

SPOTTED – shall include all nuts which show the presence of a black or brown spot on the kernel. This is caused by insect bite at the early stages of the development of the nuts.

INSECT DAMAGE (WEEVILLED) – shall include all cashew nuts which when cut show a state of insect attack or weevilled or presence of bead-like or powdery particles. Poor storage condition is responsible for this.

CHECK TEST FOR QUALITY
Carrying out a quality check test on cashew nuts like every other agricultural export produce begins with proper sampling. Samples shall be drawn from not less than 30% of consignment, sample shall be properly mixed, reduced and from which 1kg sample is drawn for analysis which include moisture, nut count, defectives and finally KOR.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT METHODS:
The quality of a bad cashew nut consignment can be improved by hand picking.
HAND PICKING – means picking or removing all suspected cashew nuts such as very small nuts, light weight nuts apparently rotten, broken or wounded nuts out of the consignment.

MORE TO COME.. KEEP FOLLOWING.

Well done.
Following...

BEFORE HARVESTING – it is important to weed the area under the trees, clean ahead of harvesting. This will facilitate the picking of fruits (apples and nuts).

NUT HARVESTUING - collect only the fallen fruits and not the ones hanging on the trees. Only the fallen fruits are ripe and matured to provide good quality of nuts. It is advised to collect fruit at least every 2 -3 days to avoid quality loss of nuts.

HANDLING OF NUTS – neatly detach the apple completely from the nut, using a nylon thread or sharp knife. The quality of the nut is affected when the apple is not neatly discharged from the nut.

Air-dry collected nuts on concrete floors, drying mats or tarpaulins under sun for minimum 2 days.

Turn nuts frequently during the drying period to ensure uniform drying.

Avoid drying indoors, or on metallic since the quality of the nuts will deteriorate. Well dried nuts produce a rattling sound when turned on the drying floor.

Remove and discard immature, diseased, shriveled and damaged nuts along with any foreign matter when drying.

nice

AreaFada2:
nice

Tnx.

How can I learn about this business plz?

lexzyg:
How can I learn about this business plz?

If you can afford to get this book I wrote on cashew nuts trading.. It will help a lot, its everything you need to know about cashew nuts business. Pls check the link to see the content:
https://www.nairaland.com/1090563/
comprehensive-textbook-cashew-nuts-trading..now

Specifications of processed cashew kernels.

White Wholes
W180
W210
W240
W320
W450
W500 

Scorched Wholes
SW
SW180
SW210
SW240
SW320
SW450
SW500

Dessert Wholes
SSW (Scorched wholes seconds)
DW  ( Dessert wholes)

 Brokens
White pieces
B (Butts)

S (Splits)
LWP(Large white pieces)
SWP(Small white pieces)

BB   (Baby Bits)

Scorched small pieces
SB (Scorched butts)
SS (Scorched splits)
SP (Scorched pieces)
SSP(Scorched small pieces 

Dessert pieces
SPS (Scorched pieces seconds)
DP (Dessert pieces)

What you can do before the season begins:

1. Buy jute bags: price of jute bags is usually low now. You can start buying jute bags and keep till the season begins. The price shoots up during the season.

2. Travel to your source: if you have a particular place you want to buy from, try and visit the place before the season takes off, familarize yourself with the town, meet your suppliers and try to run a thorough background check on them discreetly.

3. If you have trustworthy suppliers, you may advance some fund to them, so you could get good buying rate at the beginning of the season. Most farmers need money to take care of their plantation between now and february, this period is a very crucial periiod for farmers especially those who don't have money to run things. So they often look for people to advance money to them or they sell their plantation to investor at a very good rate.
If you are new to the business, pls do not give money in advance, its better you do "see and buy"

4. Link up with foreign buyers: you can start looking for export deals now.

5. Try and get at least 3 local buyers (exporters) of raw cashew nuts in Nigeria: if you will be selling locally, you need to have at least 3 good buyers of cashew nuts in nigeria, most of these buyers are indian companies and are located in lagos. Although there are also individual exporters who have export contracts to service, so you may need to start linking up with prospective buyers now. Visit their offices and tell them you intend to supply them when the season takes off.

6. Start calling your uncles, aunts in the village to enquire about cashew especially if you are from any of the producing states: a lot of youth sit down in lagos doing nothing nowadays and they will be saying they are jobless, while there's treasure in the villages they left behind. There's an adage in yoruba language that says "igbe l'owo wa" (money is in the bush. Connect with them and let them know you have an interest.

7. Research: knowledge is power and nobody knows it all. Get online and do research on cashew nuts, learn from people who have knowledge about it. Read books, visit plantations, explore.

8. Start raising fund: capital is essential, if you have all d experience necessary and you don't have fund to execute it, it may affect you. Raise enough fund for the business.

Cashew season is around the corner..
Watch this space for updates and analysis

great work lomzy

We are Wisdom Garden Projects Ltd, we are interested in suppliers of Palm Kernel Nuts, in a very Large quantity. contact us at agroexport@onoti.com
call 08024021665

durobukola:
great work lomzy

Thank you.

2015 CROP !!!

2015 cashew season will be flagged off on the 20th of this month.

i am interested

watching closely!!

Cashew nuts trading will be officially flagged off in kogi state today. Commercial activities will commence today.

Happy trading to everyone.

Raw cashew nuts available for sale.
Call 07064821943
08023881557.

@ lomzy, how much do you in delivering a good quality cashew nut to Lagos. I mean 25 tons? Please reply

We expect price of cashew nuts to crash by next week hopefully.

lomzy1:
We expect price of cashew nuts to crash by next week hopefully.

How much can you deliver to a warehouse in Lagos? Quality needed is 48-49 kor with 190 nut count max.

We have cashew nuts available
07064821943
08023881557

jjj

Flavored cashew nuts..

A comprehensive textbook on cashew nuts trading..
https://www.nairaland.com/1090563/comprehensive-textbook-cashew-nuts-trading..now#12789471

Nigerian cashew farmers announce huge 2015 profit

Some cashew farmers on Sunday said they recorded huge sales and made profits from cashew nuts during the 2015 cashew season.The National Cashew Association of Nigeria, NCAN, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos that the current global market trends showed an increase in demand for cashew.The association’s spokesperson, Sotonye Anga, said that this was due to Good Agricultural Practice and improvement introduced to farmers in 2014.“We are glad to witness the prosperity of cashew farmers in Nigeria. It goes a great deal to show that NCAN is working and in collaboration with government and our development partners.“The current global market trends show an increasing and strong demand for cashew and Nigeria will continue to deliver its quota and remain relevant in the cashew world.

“I therefore, urge our cashew farmers nationwide to be serious with the cashew business and be committed to GAP and quality improvement protocols so as to get the cash in cashew.“It is obvious that local cashew farming and processing holds a great potential for national economic growth, development, employment creation and better income for farmers in rural areas,” he said.According to Mr. Anga, with little more steps to support the sub-sector by the Federal Government, cashew will soon become the number one cash crop in Nigeria.He said, “We hope to do much more for the cashew sector and create more prosperity for our cashew farmers, cashew processors, traders and exporters.’’Mr. Anga said that Africa produced over 50 per cent of the world’s cashew and Nigeria was among the top three largest cashew producers in Africa.

He said about 400,000 hectares of land was being used for cashew production across the country.Mr. Anga, however, noted that Nigeria’s annual yield per hectare was low because the nation’s current annual production stood at 150,000 tonnes of raw cashew nuts.He said the association was moving forward by rejuvenating cashew plantations and increasing the area of land under cashew production in Nigeria.He said the recent successes of cashew farmers in some parts of Kogi State had further encouraged the association to continue its drive to empower cashew farmers nationwide.He said cashew farmers were already clearing their farms for the 2016 season.Some cashew farmers in Umoni Village, Ofu Local Government Area in Kogi said on telephone that they were happy with the development as their lives had become better.A cashew farmer, Samuel Haruna, said he was able to roof his family house with the sales he recorded from the 2015 cashew season.Mr. Haruna, who had been in the cashew business for more than 20 years, said he never really made profit from selling raw cashew nuts as much as he made in 2015 season.

“I was able to buy 14 bundles of roofing zinc to roof my family house. I have been involved in cashew farming for 20years and I never had it this good.“This 2015 cashew season was really good for me and for my people, I realised good money from the sale of cashew.“We cashew farmers from Umoni village are very happy; we are pleased with the activities of NCAN and all the efforts at improving cashew farmer’s livelihood.“This year I made good money from my cashew farm for the first time. Not just me but other cashew farmers made good money too,” he said.A 30-year-old cashew farmer, Joel Thomas, said that he bought a jeep from the sale of cashew recently.Another cashew farmer, also from Umoni Village, Ibrahima Sule, said he bought a Toyota car from the sale of cashew in 2015.A 35-year-old, Isaac Idanyi, said he was able to build a four-bedroom flat from the sale of cashew nuts.

2016 season loading..... Pls post your questions, comments and contributions here.