New Investment Opportunity in Cashew Nut Processing.

There is great investment opportunity for the processing and export of cashew nuts in Nigeria.

Cashews which are considered to be the number one crop in the world (after almonds), is at the moment in high demand, both for domestic consumption and for export.

Cashew plants don't begin to bear nuts for three to five years, and then another eight to 10 weeks is needed to develop them to full maturity.  They require a hot, humid climate to proliferate, which is why India, Brazil, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Nigeria are the largest raw cashew producers.

In Nigeria, Cashew nuts are produced in 28 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In 2004 alone. Nigeria's production of cashew amounted to 60,660 tonnes out of which, 30,510 tonnes were exported at a value of US$22.27 million.

The United States is the largest importer of cashew kernels, accounting for over 50 per cent of world imports.

Nigeria, indeed, is the 6th largest producer of cashew in the world after India, Brazil, Vietnam, Guinea Bissau and Tanzania. Like most African producers, most of Nigeria’s production are exported in raw form to India and Vietnam for processing and export with added value and benefits to those economies.

This write-up is therefore geared at teaching you how you can start up a cashew nut processing business and make huge returns within a very short time.

The raw materials, which are cashew kernels, come mostly from few organised plantations around as well as from wild trees and small holdings owned by peasants. Packing materials and accessories needed especially for export processing include tin and carbon dioxide, while bottles and nylon are needed for the local market. Cashew nuts are usually harvested in Nigeria between April and May.

The method whereby cashew kernels are roasted in open fire to have them charred before being cut open with knives to extract the nuts is outdated. Modern cashew nuts processing involves two methods, the butler process and the steam roasting process.

Mechanised cashew nut processing, step by step.

The processes involved in cashew nut processing include purchase and proper storage of cashew nuts, cleaning, grading, roasting, cooling, cutting, drying, another cooling, peeling, sorting (grading), re-conditioning, turning (packaging), weighing, filling with carbon dioxide and soldering.

The processes have been broken down below for your easy understanding.

Steam Cooking: Raw cashew nuts in shell are steamed under pressure to soften the shells. The shell of cashew nut is very hard and it contains harmful oil ingredient. Cooked cashew nuts are easy to be cracked and shelled. The process of steam cooking helps in shelling cashew nuts with minimal effort.

Cashew Nuts Auto Grading: Cashew nut grading machine can classify raw cashew nuts into several levels on basis of size and dimension. These machines come in different grades, capacity and prices.

Cracking and Shelling Machine: This is a machine that shell and cracks fresh cashew after it has been cooked. Sorting the nuts into different grades is advised for best results before cracking. Cooked cashew nuts are cracked in automatic cashew nut shelling machines. A roller bearing is used to adjust the distance between rollers for cashew nuts in different sizes.

Cashew shell & Kernel Separating: Cashew kernel separating shaker is used to separate cashew kernels from cashew shells and unshelled cashew nuts. After  going through cashew nut shelling machine, cashew shell pieces and kernels are separated by cashew shaker, and unshelled cashew nuts are returned to be re-shelled.

Peeling Machine: This is high out machine the peels the freshly cracked nut to reveal the delicious light brown nut. The reddish-brown   skin of each cashew kernel is removed by cashew kernel peeling machine for deep-processing products. This automatic cashew kernel peeling machine works with a air compressor and the internal parts of peeling machine are made from high quality stainless steel.

Cashew Kernel Roasting: Roasted cashew kernels have a beautiful appearance and good flavour. Cashew roaster is fully automatic and high efficient. In the roasting process, cashew kernels are heated evenly in high temperature and they would not stick on the inner wall. Mr Sunil Dahiya, African Cashew Alliance (ACA) Business Development manager says over 344,000 new jobs and 75 million dollars additional revenue could come from the Nigeria’s cashew processing industry if properly harnessed. He said this in Ilorin, at the opening of a two days workshop on “Cashew Business Competitiveness’ and Environmental Sustainability” The commercial production of cashew in Nigeria currently values approximately 160 million dollars and supports the livelihood of over one million people but only about 20 per cent of the raw cashew nut produced in the country was processed. So you could see that cashew nut processing in Nigeria in a grey area with huge financial promise for serious minded entrepreneurs that will take advantage of the opportunity.     I hope the information in this article has been of help to all my readers, especially you. For more information and question on cashew nut processing and other business opportunities please contact us or visit http://youactivated.blogspot.com/