Almost half of the world’s cashew supply is produced in Africa, yet most processing takes place in Vietnam and India. This means that raw cashew nuts are shipped to Asia, shelled in Vietnam or India and then shipped to Europe. Not a very sustainable route to Europe. With the help of European actors, some local processing in Africa has been developed. But there still is a long way to go.
For the CBI programme on Natural Ingredients West Africa, ProFound has dived into the European market for cashews and how West African countries can access this market. This Tailored Intelligence research has identified requirements for cashews on the European market, interesting export markets, how to reach these markets and how to compete with large scale production in Vietnam and India. The final report has recently been published and can be accessed on the CBI website.