Cashewnuts

In our life but also for our company Sharp Sharp we want to buy ingredients that are fair and durable, which means fair prices for the workers and environment friendly farmed. So we were very happy when we met Laurent from Nuts World who introduced us to the best cashewnuts we ever tasted which he buys directly from the farmers in Benin West-Africa.

Cashewnuts is one of our main ingredients for many of our treats like the no-cheesecakes but also our rose brownie. Finding the right ingredients for the right price can be a bit of a struggle for us because we like our ingredients to come from a good place. Which means grown and processed in an environmentally friendly way and the farmers and workers should be paid a fair price.

Here in Benin, farmers grow cashewnuts for generations in the most natural way without any usage of pesticides or fertilizers. Unfortunately these farmers don’t have the resources to get certifications like SKAL or EU organic like most of our other ingredients have.

Laurent and Ruben themselves visit the farmers to check the quality of the cashew nuts before buying them. But first they need to be approved by the head of the village by drinking fresh cow milk and exchanging exciting stories. After approval and the deal is made, the village turns into a small factory and bags of 80kg unshelled cashewnuts are being carried around to a local factory where the nuts will be shelled.

Here they will be slightly roasted / steamed in order to remove the delicious nut from the shell. Therefore most cashewnuts available cannot be considered as truly raw.

Next the nuts are being packed and vacuumed in 25 kg bags and shipped to Rotterdam where Ruben and Laurents company Nuts World is situated and whom deliver the nuts to our doorstep.

These cashewnuts are really one of the best we ever tasted and which makes our no-cheesecakes so good. We are happy to contribute to the local economies of Benin and to provide an income for the farmers, which hopefully in long term provide the resources to get organic certification. And we really hope to join Ruben and Laurent once on their trips to these amazing places and not only taste cashew nuts but also cashew apples or green cashew sprouts.