Bulk Cashew

Certifications & Compliance

The certifications and records below are available depending on grade, origin, processing facility, and lot.

• Certified Organic: Available on raw, pasteurized, and dry roasted whole, split, and piece grades from qualifying origins.
• Kosher and Halal: Facility and product certification available on request across all grades.
• Non-GMO Project Verified: Available on selected origins and grades.
• Gluten-Free Status: Cashews contain no gluten; testing and statements are issued against the facility allergen control program.
• Certificate of Analysis: Issued per lot covering moisture, grade and count, defects, foreign material, and microbiological results.
• Product Specification Sheet: Defines the agreed W-count or screen size, treatment status, and packaging configuration for supplier approval files.
• Validated Pasteurization Records: Document the time and temperature parameters and the log reduction achieved on steam-treated lots.
• Aflatoxin Testing Reports: Issued to the destination market limit with a sampling plan appropriate to lot size.
• Pesticide Residue and Heavy Metals Reports: Available against US, EU, or customer-specified panels.
• Microbiological Reports: Cover pathogen and indicator organism results for the released lot.
• Allergen Statement: Identifies cashews as a declared tree nut allergen and states facility segregation and cleaning controls.
• Country of Origin Documentation: Supports customs entry, duty classification, and origin-sensitive labeling, including cases where growing origin and shelling origin differ.
• Traceability and Organic Transaction Records: Available for certified material, linking finished lots back through the shelling facility to the raw nut handler.
• Safety Data Sheet: Provided for handling, storage, and dust management in receiving and processing areas.

Production & Sourcing

Cashew kernels are sourced from Vietnam and India, the two established shelling and grading centers, using raw nuts grown in West Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. The trade separates growing from processing because shelling is labor and equipment-intensive, so kernel origin is set by where the processing capacity and grading discipline sit rather than by where the crop was harvested. Brazilian material is available where a Southern Hemisphere harvest gives useful coverage against the main February to May window. Origin selection is driven by grade availability at the required W-count, peeling quality, and whether organic segregation is maintained through the shelling line.

1. Harvest and Raw Nut Collection: Cashew apples are gathered and the nuts separated and sun-dried, with the main harvest running February through May in West Africa and India and September through January in Brazil.
2. Conditioning and Shelling: Raw nuts are steam conditioned to soften the shell, then cut or cracked to release the kernel while keeping the caustic shell liquid isolated from the food stream.
3. Drying and Peeling: Kernels are dried to loosen the inner seed coat, then peeled mechanically or by hand, which removes the tannin-bearing testa and produces the pale color the white grades depend on.
4. Grading and Sorting: Kernels are separated into whole, split, butt, and piece classes, then graded on count, screen size, and color, with electronic and manual sorting removing scorched and defective material.
5. Pasteurization or Roasting: Steam pasteurization is applied where a validated lethality step is required without changing color or flavor; dry roasting develops color and flavor and serves the same control function on roasted grades.
6. Seasoning and Size Reduction: Salt is applied to roasted grades at the specified rate, and piece grades are produced by controlled breakage and screening at this stage, which is where the finished forms diverge from a common upstream flow.
7. Vacuum Packing and Documentation: Kernels are packed into tins or pouches under vacuum and inert gas to protect the oil fraction, then released with lot coding, certificates, and organic transaction records where certified lots run through a cleaned segregated line.

Applications

• Snack Nut Packing and Gift Assortments: Whole W-180 through W-320 grades supply retail, foodservice, and gift tin programs where kernel size and color carry the presentation.
• Confectionery and Chocolate Manufacturing: Whole and butt grades serve as inclusions and panning centers in bars, clusters, and enrobed products.
• Bakery and Pastry Production: Splits and piece grades appear in cookies, pastries, sweet doughs, and toppings on industrial bakery lines.
• Plant-Based Dairy Alternatives: Splits and pieces are a primary input for cashew milks, cultured cashew cheeses, and cream substitutes.
• Sauces, Curries, and Prepared Meals: Piece grades are used in South Asian and Southeast Asian sauce systems and in prepared meal components.
• Cereal, Granola, and Nutrition Bar Manufacturing: Piece and split grades deliver inclusion content in bars, clusters, and breakfast cereals.
• Nut Butter and Spread Production: Splits, butts, and pieces are the standard grinding stock for cashew butters and confectionery fillings.

Funcionality

• Emulsion Formation in Wet Systems: Ground kernel disperses fat, protein, and starch together into a stable creamy suspension without an added emulsifier, which is why cashew is the base for most plant-based cream and cheese systems.
• Starch-Driven Thickening: Cashew carries a higher carbohydrate fraction than most tree nuts, so ground material builds sauce body and viscosity on heating rather than simply adding fat.
• Fat Phase Contribution: Close to half the kernel weight is oil, which contributes richness and mouthcoating to butters, fillings, and dairy alternatives.
• Protein Contribution: Roughly 18% protein allows a moderate protein lift in bars and beverages while the fat and starch fractions carry texture.
• Low-Energy Grinding Behavior: The kernel is softer and less fibrous than almond, so it reaches a smooth paste at lower mill energy and shorter residence time, which limits heat buildup during processing.
• Structural Retention Through Bake: Low moisture and a dense kernel structure let inclusions hold shape and bite through mixing, sheeting, and baking.
• Dry Blend Compatibility: Low water activity keeps piece grades stable in dry mixes without migrating moisture into surrounding powders.
• Dose Control by Grade: Screen size sets how far the material distributes through a batch, with large pieces staying visible as discrete inclusions and small pieces dispersing into the matrix.
• Surface Adhesion for Coatings: The smooth peeled surface takes seasoning and panning layers evenly, and the absence of a seed coat removes the adhesion variability seen in skin-on nuts.
• Oil Migration Into Fat Coatings: The liquid oil fraction moves into chocolate and compound coatings over time, softening the shell and driving bloom unless a barrier layer or migration-tolerant coating is used.

Benefits for Commercial Manufacturing

• Grade Ladder Matched to Visibility: Buying whole grades only where the kernel is seen, and pieces where it is ground or dispersed, removes a substantial cost per pound without changing the material.
• Vacuum and Inert Gas Packaging: Sealed tins and pouches protect the oil fraction through transit and storage, which holds peroxide value in specification over a long ocean lead time.
• Validated Lethality Without Color Change: Steam pasteurization gives pathogen control on raw-appearing kernels, so lines that cannot apply a kill step keep the pale color a formulation may require.
• Neutral Flavor and Pale Color: The absence of tannin and pigment gives formulation latitude in light-colored and delicately flavored products where other nuts would dominate.
• Multi-Origin Supply Path: Vietnamese and Indian shelling capacity plus Brazilian harvest coverage reduces exposure to a single crop year or a single processing region.
• Origin Documentation for Split Supply Chains: Records that distinguish growing origin from shelling origin support customs classification and origin labeling where the two differ.
• Simple Ingredient Declaration: Most grades declare as cashews alone, which suits short ingredient statements and clean label programs.
• Organic Chain of Custody: Segregated shelling, peeling, and packing plus transaction records let certified lots carry through to a certified finished product.
• Allergen Control Documentation: Facility statements and cleaning validation support the tree nut allergen program a downstream manufacturer defends at audit.
• Packaging Sized for Line Handling: Tin and pouch formats let receiving match single-charge handling instead of repackaging bulk material at the plant.