Nowadays, people around the world demanding more quality and variety of food products and companies have been innovating more options for their customers.

Years ago, cashew nuts were mostly used as a plain nut for consumption. On the other hand, today we can find different types of products derived from cashew.

Recently, cashews have become popular throughout the world for a good reason: their special flavour and extraordinary health benefits. Cashews are a good vegetarian source of copper, providing more of the mineral than most other non-meat sources. The nuts contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, including oleic and palmitoleic acids. They are not only highly nutritious but also remarkably versatile.

Cashew nuts  are native to Brazil and imported by the Portuguese to West Africa. There it became a widely grown tree and currently, Nigeria is third in the world by Cashew production, following after Vietnam and India in first positions (source).

CASHEW NUT PRODUCTS

1. Snacks 🍿

Cashew nuts are considered a healthier alternative to other savoury snacks, such as crisps and extruded snacks, and more beneficial to health than peanuts in most major consuming countries. It is possible to purchase raw, roasted, or cashews that have been seasoned with various savoury or sweet flavourings (chilli, paprika, honey, spicy and sweet and etc.).

2. Food ingredients 🥜

Moreover, Cashew nuts are also an ingredient in various foods and functional food products, such as breakfast cereals, fruit and nut bars, and chocolate products with cashew nuts. In addition, they go well as an addition to salads, smoothies, stir-fries, and other dishes used to enrich the meals.

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3. Cashew Milk 🥛

In the age where diary consumption causes more and more allergies, is not suitable for vegans and other types of common diets – cashew nut products are a good diary replacement. One of them is Cashew milk. It is a dairy-free product perfect for coffee, cereals, smoothies, soups, sauces, and more.

4. Cashew Butter 🥃

Similar to peanut butter, cashew butter contains a lot of healthy fats. It has a little high concentration of monounsaturated fat compared to peanut butter. Cashew butter contains high concentrations of iron, magnesium, vitamin B6, and calcium. The butter is usually made from raw or baked cashews, and it has a rich creamy flavour. Raw cashew butter seems to be better at retaining all the nutritional properties of the cashews after processing, so it is advisable to opt for that variant.

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5. Cashew Cheese 🧀

Cashew cheese can be in various forms: soft cheese to use as a bread spread or hard cheese as well. It remains purely vegan and can meet many diet requirements eaten as a healthy snack with olives and grapes or topping for sandwiches, toasts, and pizzas.

6. Cashew Cream 🍦

Cashew cream has a usual consistency of regular cream and can be added to a variety of sweet or savoury dishes as a healthy vegan substitute for heavy whipping cream. Foods that use cream are ice cream, many sauces, soups, stews, puddings, and some custard bases, and is also used for cakes.

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7. Cashew Yoghurt 🍨

The benefits of cashew yoghurt come from friendly probiotic bacteria and the cashews themselves. It is made from unsalted raw cashew, has lower sugar, and many health benefits.

8. Medicine 💊

People also use the nut to make medicine. Cashew is used for  stomach and intestinal (gastrointestinal) disorders. Some people apply cashew directly to the skin  as a skin  stimulant and to seal (cauterize) ulcers, warts, and corns (source).

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9. Cashew powder 🧂

Cashew powder is popular in gluten-free cooking and baking. It can easily replace almond flour and be used in cookies, muffins, and quick bread. Cashew flour is already sweet by nature and it doesn’t have the bitterness that almonds can have.

10. Cashew oil 🧴

Cashew oil is recognized as extremely top-quality cooking oil, and it is also frequently regarded as healthier than other types of cooking oil. These types of exotic nuts are very first shelled and dried. The skins are then taken out, and the nuts are pressed to produce the oil (source).

11. Cashew skin cream ‍💦

Cashews are known as acne-fighting nutrients. These nuts are high in selenium, which acts as an antioxidant with vitamin E, leaving hydrated skin and reduced inflammation. Moisturizing cream brings condition and protection to skin and hair (source)

CASHEW SHELL PRODUCTS

Cashew shell are also processed to ensure that no part of the raw cashew is wasted –

1. Oil 🛢️

The oil is used for industrial and medical purposes. Further, the oil is useful for surface coatings, paints, varnishes, wood coating.

2. Biofuel 🔥

Cashew nut shells can provide energy in different ways and can be in solid and liquid form. When raw – it can be produced into bio-crude, known as cashew nut shell liquid and a solid cake. Cashew nut shell liquid is an important and powerful bio-oil whose calorific value is comparable to that of petroleum oils. Furthermore, when extracted, the oil can be used to produce a cake that has less energy than the raw shells but can be used as a solid fuel for energy generation as well. (source)

TYPES OF CASHEW NUTS

Cashews are graded according to size, colour, and a number of nuts per pound. There are many different grades of cashew kernels, about 33. However, only 26 grades of cashew nuts are exported and commercially available.

Some of the different types include W – 180, W – 210, W – 240, W – 320, W – 450. The number signifies how many kernels are there in 1 pound (Lb) of cashew. Therefore a smaller number indicates higher quality and size of the cashew kernels.

White Whole cashews are “W” and if the colour is a little dark, it will become “SW”.

Did you know that?

In a closed container and in a cool place, fresh cashew nuts can last even for 6 months, the nut has a great shelf life if stored properly.

POTENTIAL CASHEW NUTS MARKET

The European market for cashew nuts is expected to show stable growth in the long term. Accordingly, this growth is likely to be driven by changes in the consumption patterns of European consumers, including the rising demand for healthier snacking options and vegetable sources of protein (source).

As a result, TOSK Global Ventures are here to help your business grow with quality products at a reasonable price.

At TOSK Global Ventures we offer high-quality Cashew which is made up of the best farmers of Nigeria, Africa with a focus on natural and sustainable farming.

Contact us to find out more details.