Agriculture & food
Indonesian cashew nuts
Indonesia exports cashew mainly as raw nuts in shell, which are then processed elsewhere. The trade prices raw nuts on outturn: how much white whole kernel comes out of a standard bag. A buyer looking for finished kernel grades is usually looking at a different supply chain.
How it leaves the country.
- Raw cashew nuts
- In shell, in jute bags. What Indonesia actually ships in volume, and what the outturn calculation applies to.
- Kernels
- Shelled and graded as whole, split or pieces. Indonesian processing capacity is growing, and much of the world's kernel trade is processed away from where the nut grew.
- Cashew nut shell liquid
- A by-product of shelling with its own industrial buyers, sold separately from the nut.
How it is graded.
Raw nuts and kernels are graded on entirely different things. Raw nuts on outturn and nut count, kernels on size and colour. Confusing the two is the most common way a cashew enquiry goes wrong.
- Outturn
- The weight of white whole kernel recovered from a standard bag of raw nuts, quoted in pounds. It is the number the price is built on.
- Nut count
- Nuts per unit weight. A lower count means bigger nuts, which generally recover better and command a premium.
- Kernel grades
- Whole, butts, splits and pieces, with colour classes on top. A different vocabulary from raw nuts and a different contract.
How it is packed.
- Raw nuts
- Jute bags at the net weight the trade works with. Moisture is the risk, because raw nuts in a damp bag lose outturn on the way.
- Kernels
- Vacuum-packed tins or flexible packs inside cartons, with the pack format part of the specification and the price.
Where it grows.
East Nusa Tenggara
Nusa Tenggara
One of the main growing areas, with dry conditions that suit the crop.
South Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Established growing and collection, feeding both export and the domestic processing that is being built.
West Nusa Tenggara
Nusa Tenggara
A second Nusa Tenggara base with the same seasonality and the same collectors.
East Java and Madura
Java
Smaller volumes, closer to the processing and the export routes.
Origins with a protected name.
Names the trade contracts on, most of them on the Indonesian register of geographical indications.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Certificate of analysis
- Outturn, nut count, moisture and defects on the lot that shipped, established by a cut test on a sample.
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Issued by Badan Karantina Indonesia against the plant health requirements of the destination.1
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and on the preference scheme in force between it and Indonesia.
Questions buyers ask.
Can I buy Indonesian cashew kernels?
Increasingly yes, as domestic processing grows, and you should establish where the nut was grown as well as where it was shelled. Much of the world's kernel trade is processed in countries that import raw nuts, so kernel origin and nut origin are separate questions.
How is outturn established?
By a cut test on a drawn sample, shelling and weighing the recovered whole kernel. Agree the sampling method in the contract, because outturn decides the price and the sample decides the outturn.
Why does moisture matter so much?
Because raw nuts absorbing damp on the way lose recoverable kernel and can arrive mouldy. It is the reason the moisture ceiling belongs in the contract and the reason a pre-loading check is worth the cost.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Worth reading.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1Badan Karantina Indonesia, the national quarantine agency. Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.