Raw cashews require proper processing for human consumption. Cashew Processing Unit allows you to manufacture many value added food products. These are Cashew Shell Liquid (CNSL), Dried and Roasted Cashews. Here in this article, you will find a profitable Cashew Processing Business Will learn important steps to start – How to Start Cashew Business Ideas & Plan in English?

If you live in a cashew growing area, you can Business can seriously consider. There are two different ways to start a processing plant. One semi automatic and the other full automatic. Cashew processing business involves the recovery of edible kernels from raw walnuts by mechanical means.

No reasonable investment is required for setting up cashew processing plant. You can set up the unit in any size depending on the demand-supply ratio.

Basics to Start a Cashew Processing Business

1. Understand the Market

Raw cashew nuts are not suitable for human consumption. Therefore, it needs proper processing and manual processing does not provide good quality products. Therefore, small cashew farms are always on the lookout for mechanized processing units. Moreover, this type of cashew has good export potential in various countries.

Raw and roasted cashew is a profitable FMCG product in the local market. Almost every grocery store, supermarket, mall sell these items regularly. In addition, bakeries, confectioneries, hotels, sweet shops and restaurants are the major bulk consumers of cashew nuts.

2. Learn How to Make Cashew Nuts

Grading raw nuts before processing minimizes broken kernels. The nuts are conditioned by spraying water and allowed to remain moist for 24-48 hours. Generally, you will need to roast the shell of raw nuts to make them brittle and lose the kernel from the shell. The methods of roasting are drum roasting, oil bath roasting and steam boiling.

In drum roasting, the nuts are fed into an inclined reciprocating drum, which is initially heated to such an extent that the oozing oil ignites and burns, thus igniting the shell. The drum maintains its temperature by burning the CNSL released from the nuts. It takes 3-5 minutes to fry.

Oil bath roasting is a traditional method. In this method, you have to pass the raw nuts through a screw or belt conveyor through a bath of CNSL maintained at a temperature of 190-200°C for 1-3 minutes.

The roasting device consists of a rectangular vessel 60–90 cm wide and 90 cm deep with a flat bottom. Cashew shells are used as fuel in the entire assembly furnace. After conditioning, you will need to lightly roast the nuts at 100-120 psi for 20-25 minutes in a closed pot so that the kernels are loosed from the shell and easier to remove.

Briefly, the process includes moisture conditioning, roasting, shelling, kernel drying, peeling, grading and packing. Find below the details of the steps involved:

a) shelling

Nuts are shelled by hand in most units after roasting. Its production is 15-20 kg kernels in 8 hours with 90% whole kernels. Mechanical shelling can also be done where the shell is cut and the kernel is pulled out using a sharp needle. The output of one worker is 14-22 kg of kernels.

The main disadvantage is that the kernels get contaminated by lightly roasted dry fruits by CNSL. Requires careful manipulation when cutting individual sizes of nuts to avoid injury to the hand

b) dry

First, dry the kernels after they separate from the shells to reduce the moisture content (2-4%) and loosen the adhesive testa. The most commonly used is the borema dryer which consists of a wire mesh tray that is loaded into metal chambers heated indirectly by gases from the furnace below. Change the tray frequently to heat evenly.

c) peel

Peeling is the removal of the testa from the kernels. After being removed from the dryer, the kernels are cooled for 24-48 hours to absorb moisture as they become brittle. You can remove the testa using sharp bamboo sticks. The average peeling capacity is 7-10 kg/head.

d) grading and conditioning

Generally, you need to grade the kernels based on their size and color as per the government specifications of your area. You must condition the kernels before packing to prevent them from breaking during transportation. Additionally, you’ll need to maintain less than 5% moisture, otherwise microbial and oxidative spoilage occurs.

e) packing

Cashews tend to go rancid and go rancid quickly, necessitating packaging that is permeable to oxygen and moisture. Generally, you can pack the cashews in tin containers (metal cans) after draining them and filling them with CO2.

A flexible packaging system with N-gas infusion or molded vacuum packaging can significantly reduce packaging costs. So, you must use the updated and modern packaging machine for packing cashew nuts.

f) Cashew apple processing

First, wash the ripe cashew nuts in water. Then extract the juice using screw press or by pressing by hand. You can get about 50-60% raw juice with 9-10% soluble solids. In addition, you can remove the tannins in the juice by mixing it with gelatin (0.5 g/kg juice), or polyvinylpyrrolidone (1.4 g/kg juice), or rice ghee (1.25 ml/kg juice), let solidify and clear. Strain the juice.

In case the rice is mixed in the batter, repeat the process again. You can use the raw juice to make syrups, squash, ready-to-serve drinks, vinegar, wine, and liquors. To prevent raw juice from spoiling, you can mix sodium benzoate (0.7 g/kg) and citric acid (5 g/kg) with a clarifying agent.

g) Cashew Shell Liquid Processing

Cashew shell liquid (CNSL) is a naturally occurring phenol. Actually, it consists of soft honeycomb mesocarp of shell. CNSL is a viscous, oily or balsam-like substance, which is light yellow to dark brown in color. It has a bitter taste and caustic properties.

Fresh CNSL contains 90% anacardic acid and you can convert it to cardanol when heated. The remaining 10% is Cardol which is mainly attributed to Vesicant assets. It comes as a by-product of the shell obtained during the processing of walnuts.

Generally, you can follow different methods like hot oil bath, expeller, kiln method and solvent extraction. Of these, expeller extractions are common.

Normally, you can extract about 7 kg of crude oil from a 100 kg shell. CNSL is a versatile industrial raw material. It is widely used in the manufacture of resins, detergents, insecticidal dyes, antioxidants for mineral oils, lubricants, medicines, etc.

Major products for industrial applications are cashew lacquer, insulating varnish, electrical winding, and electrical conductors impregnated with CNSL and cashew cement (CSNL reacts with formaldehyde).

3. Create a Cashew Processing Business Plan

A professionally documented business plan is essential if you are looking forward to building a profitable cashew processing unit. There are many free business plan templates available on the Internet for you to get help with if you want to write your own. However, if you are planning to fund your entity it would be advisable to hire a professional business plan writer.

4. Manage Finances

The amount of investment in developing cashew processing unit largely depends on the land, building, machinery, equipment, allied civil works. Apart from this, you should have a stock of raw cashew nuts for at least three to six months.

You should have a clear idea of ​​how much investment you require to set up the unit. Here, your business plan will come in handy for pitching the fund to investors.

5. Choosing a Location for Cashew Processing Business

If you are planning to start on a small scale, an area of ​​around 600 sq. Mount is enough. However, you must ensure that open land is available for drying. If the land is strategically located in a ready market, the profitability of the unit will increase. There is another factor to consider when purchasing raw cashews.

If the location is near cashew growing area, it is a big advantage. If not, such as if you import raw cashew nuts from other countries such as Vietnam, African countries, the location of the factory near the ports will greatly reduce the cost of transportation.

6. Prepare a Marketing Plan for Selling Processed Cashews

Cashew nuts are in demand all over the world. This product has got a huge export potential. You must have a well designed marketing plan to ensure that your products reach most of the countries. Alibaba to your company, AmazonRegister with B2B marketplaces like eBay and list your products. Creating a small online store is an easy way to reach a wide audience for very little cost.

Starting and running a cashew processing business requires proper strategic planning and distribution strategy. Also, you should seriously consider quality control. Generally, quality control plays a very important role in the international market.

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How to start a fruit business?

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We hope that after reading this blog post your questions How to start cashew business? (How to Start Cashew Business Ideas & Plan in English) You must have got the answer to this question easily.