New: Cashew products from BioTropic

The small kidney-shaped little nuts which aren't nuts at all are much sought after and full of nutrients. The cashew kernel is the seed of the cashew nut tree and it grows on the end of an apple-shaped fruit.

Our cashew kernels come from Korhogo in the north of the Ivory Coast. There they are harvested and processed by members of the Ivoire Organics producer group. Processing the kernels is labour intensive and takes a great deal of manual work: the seed and its hard shell are separated from the fruit, dried in the sun and then steamed to make them easier to crack open. Cracking them open requires skill and practice, because the nuts are to be kept whole if at all possible. After drying them again in an oven it becomes particularly delicate -- each individual nut is taken in hand and separated with a knife from the thin seed coat which still covers the nut.

More than 150 employees of Ivoire Organics work on processing the nuts. As a result of planting organic mangoes as well, the smallholders are employed all-year round and benefit from having a regular and secure income.

Our Africa project-manager Kuemkwong Siemefo has helped to build up the producer group and he visits it several times a year. "Through our personal contact with the people on site we exert a direct influence upon the value creation chain." He adds, "The smallholders working for Ivoire Organics identify with their work and that motivates me too."

Our cashew products from Ivoire Organics:

Cashew kernels 200g
Broken cashew nuts 200g
Cashew spread 250g

Tags: Cashews (GB), Ivory Coast (GB), Ivoire Organics (GB), Kuemkwong Siemefo (GB)

Print Email

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.