THE FLORES FARMS

BTF Authentically Raw Cashews

The ONLY source for truly raw cashews in the world!  Don’t fall for the misleading claims… if it’s not sourced from Big Tree Farms, they’re not truly raw.  Our Cashews are not heat processed in any way.

Over the course of the past 4 years, Big Tree Farms (BTF) has developed the single highest integrity cold-processed Cashew supply chain in the world.  By working directly with raw foodist David Wolfe, as well as raw food experts from the EU and Australia, Big Tree Farms has built a sustainable supply chain from farm-gate to market based on a global demand for living cashews.

The pitfalls have been many, the learning curve steep; but the resulting cashews have been praised by both those on the raw path and those simply looking for high quality.  There is simply no alternative to Authentically Raw™ cashews; sweeter and more appetizing than any other cashew we have tasted.

In 2005, Big Tree Farms began working with NGO, SwissContact, on the creation of a socially equitable value chain for cashew farmers in eastern Flores Island.  The island of Flores and its southern neighbor, Sumba, account for the majority of cashews produced in Indonesia and yet there were no options for value addition by local producers.  With no facilities for processing, all cashews were purchased “in-shell” and sold to processors in India or Vietnam.  Prices were extremely low, exploitation was extremely high and no premiums were paid for differentiation if motivated producers did try to increase quality by sun drying and/or grading in-shell nuts.

Big Tree Farms developed a program that would allow smallholder cashew farmers to access premiums and begin to take control of value-addition processing.  The first step was certification.   Farmers in the program were certified organic for production and processing as well as for fair trade.  This allowed producers to continue selling cashew-in-shell at a more viable price due to a somewhat stable premium of 10-15% allocated to organic and fair trade cashews.

Due to notoriously thin margins and high necessary volumes associated with cashew processing (estimated minimum processing quantity for conventional cashews is +/-500 metric ton/per annum), the challenge of Big Tree Farms’ program was to find an alternative processing scenario that would yield viable returns with relatively small bulk quantities.

The solution was to create a 100% raw, cold-processed cashew nut.  The definition of “raw” for the nut industry means “not roasted”; cashew-in-shell are either boiled in oil, steamed or scorched in fire in order to condition the shell prior to cracking and speed the process.  However, during that heating process the cashew degrades significantly and essential fatty acids and enzymes are destroyed.  Many companies sell their cashews as “raw” which isn’t false labeling, since in the nut industry the term “raw” simply refers to a nut that is not roasted.  Yet, in the Raw Food industry, many companies sell these unroasted - yet still cooked - cashews to the consumer as cold processed raw cashew.

Big Tree Farms aids in the continued development of special knives which allow producers to both pierce and split the tough outer shell of the unheated cashew nut.  Once the shell has been broken to expose the cashew kernel (still nestled snuggly inside), producers use a thin stainless pick to pry the kernel out. These kernels are still encased in a thin red skin, or testa, which must be dehydrated to facilitate removal.  For this process producers must either use solar dryers erected of bamboo and plastic greenhouse covers or sell the half-processed nuts to Big Tree Farms, as we maintain commercial-scale dehydrator equipment.

Either way the nuts are dehydrated at a maximum of 40º Celsius (solar dryers operate at approximately 35º) for 12-14 hours at which time the thin skin is rubbed from the kernel with cotton gloves.  De-skinned cashews are then sent for final quality inspection where any imperfections are cleaned away with scalpel.  Finished cashews are graded only as Wholes, Splits or Pieces and are returned to dehydration for a final 4-6 hours to guarantee packaging at a min of 5% moisture content.

The processing necessary for our Authentically Raw™ cashews is slow, relative to conventional processing, but the high quality and unbeatable flavor are unquestionable. As an example of this, typical cashews in India are processed at a rate of 12-14kg/worker/day while for our Authentically Raw™ cashews typical processing rates are only between 4-5kg/worker/day!

This great disparity in processing capacities translates to a significant difference in price, which in turn leads to a serious temptation for buyers and manufacturers of  “raw” food products to purchase industry “raw” cashews (defined as non-roasted though still heat-treated) rather than support truly raw, cold-processed product.

A step-by-step guide to Authentically Raw™ Cashew Processing:

1- Picking and drying process of nuts

• Naturally fallen raw cashews with 15-20% moisture are collected by the farmers.
• Raw cashews are sun dried for 2-3 days (maximum temperature is 30°C) until moisture level comes down to 10-12%.

2- Storing of nuts

• Dried cashew nuts are packed in woven gunny sacks and stored in well ventilated rooms with giving enough space between stacks for air circulation. Dried cashew-in-shell are warehoused for up to 12 months without degradation although some further moisture is lost (2-3%).

3- Shelling of nuts

• Raw cashew nuts are shelled manually by utilizing specially-made cutters in order to remove the shells and release the cashew kernels. Kernels at this stage are still covered in a testa or thin skin.

4- Drying process of kernels with testa

• Cashew kernels with testa/skin are dehydrated at maximum 40 ^oC for 12-16 hours in order to reduce moisture level to 5%.

5- Peeling process of kernels

• Testa/skin of the kernel is removed manually by cloth gloves and final quality check is done with scalpel to remove any remaining skin or blemish.

6- Packing of kernels (with or without testa)

• Kernels are  vacuum packed in 1kg plastic bags
• Plastic bags are packaged in cartons.