Vietnamese cashews: why we start here

We start with cashew because it is a Vietnamese ingredient with steady supply, a mild nutty taste that works in both bars and snacks, and a name international buyers already associate with Vietnam. This piece explains how we judge a lot of cashew and the questions we ask every supplier before we order.

Why cashew comes first

Four reasons put cashew at the top of our ingredient list:

• Vietnam is one of the largest cashew processors and exporters in the world. Kernels are available all year, and the processing chain is used to export requirements.
• The taste is mild, slightly buttery, naturally sweet and crisp once roasted. Cashew sits comfortably next to rice, seaweed, dried fruit and cacao without dominating any of them.
• Buyers abroad already know Vietnamese cashew. We do not have to explain the ingredient from scratch.
• In a nut bar, cashew kernels hold their shape through pressing and cutting, with less crumbling than many other nuts.

Our Natural & Healthy brand is built around it. All three flavours of the 25 g nut bar start from Vietnamese cashew: plain cashew, cranberry and cashew, seaweed and cashew.

How cashew quality is judged

The trade grades kernels by size and wholeness. Whole kernels are graded W180, W240, W320 and W450; the lower the number, the larger the kernel and the higher the price. Broken kernels have their own grades, such as WB, WS and LWP (butts, splits and large pieces). For a bar we do not necessarily need the largest grade. What matters more is that the grade stays the same from lot to lot, because mixed sizes press unevenly.

Beyond grade, we look at:

• Moisture. Damp kernels mould easily and lose their crispness in storage.
• Colour. An even ivory white, with no scorching, yellowing or leftover skin.
• Defects. Insect damage, mould, shrivelled kernels, foreign matter.
• Smell. Rancid cashew (fat that has broken down through air and heat) smells oily and stale even when it looks perfect.
• Test results. Aflatoxin (a toxin produced by moulds), microbiology and pesticide residues.

All of this sits on the COA (certificate of analysis) for the lot. We treat the COA as part of the goods. A lot without a COA, or with a COA from a different lot, is not ready to be received.

What happens when a new cashew sample arrives

An ordinary scene at our Hanoi office: a supplier sends a bag of W320 kernels with a COA. We put it next to the kernels we currently use, check the colour in daylight, smell it and taste a few raw. Then we ask the partner facility to roast a small batch using the same settings it runs for the Natural & Healthy bars. The roasted kernels are tasted again and a few lines are written down: crispness, richness, any bitterness in the aftertaste, any off notes.

In parallel we compare the COA with our ingredient specification: moisture, aflatoxin, microbiology, grade. Only when a sample passes on taste and on paper does the lot go into a trial batch of bars. If the taste is right but the paperwork is missing, we go back to the supplier first and do not run the trial. This costs a few days. It saves us from explaining to a buyer why two batches of the same bar taste different.

Questions to ask a cashew supplier

If you are choosing cashew for your own product, these are the questions we always put on the table:

• Which grade, from which growing region, and what food safety certificates does the processing plant hold?
• Is there a COA for every lot, which laboratory issues it, and will we receive it before delivery?
• Is the sample from the same lot that will be shipped?
• How is it packed: vacuum or gas flushed, what bag size, what recommended shelf life?
• What is the lead time and the minimum order?
• If a lot has a problem, how does the return process work?

A supplier who answers these six questions clearly is usually a supplier you can work with for years.

What cashew taught us about every ingredient

The discipline we learned on cashew now applies to rice, corn, seaweed, cacao and oats: a written specification, a COA for each lot, a reference sample to compare against and tasting notes that get recorded. Good ingredients do not make a product good by themselves. Inconsistent ingredients, however, are guaranteed to make an inconsistent product.

If you supply cashew or other Vietnamese ingredients and can answer the questions above, send us your specification and a sample COA through the Contact page. If you would like to do this kind of ingredient and product work with us, the open roles are on the Careers page.