… the best cashews you´ve ever had …
The outside temperature slowly rises up to 40° C (104° F) and the air is heavy and still. You’re reaching for shadow in order to hide yourself, because the sun has no mercy. Everything around is yellow and brown and a dark volcanic sand together with dust quickly coats your feet just like cacao powder. It is not the most convenient place to be in Bali, Indonesia, yet it is a very lively and happy place called Desa Ban village, where a cashew factory owned by social enterprise East Bali Cashews is located. There are beautiful Balinese women everywhere peeling, roasting and processing cashews into mouthwatering products such as granola bites or cashew popcorn.
Little did we know before about the unbelievably hard work that goes into our favourite snack… Just for fun, we tried to count how many pairs of hands are needed in order to produce a packet of simple salted cashew nuts. We reckoned that the answer is at least 6. Can you imagine?! The whole story obviously starts with a farmer who lives in the driest and hottest parts of Bali, Indonesia. Only here are the conditions for growing cashew trees just right. The farmer grows his own cashew trees and when the time is right, he harvests the cashew apples. In each cashew apple there is only one cashew kernel containing one cashew nut. Harvesting all the cashew kernels in these conditions must be the toughest part of the whole process, I guess…
The second pair of hands belongs to another hardworking man who operates the steaming machine which softens the hard skin of the cashew kernels. While the third pair of hands is operating another machine that opens steamed cashew kernels, the fourth pair is deftly peeling the hard shell of cashew kernels with a special tiny metal tool. Bear in mind that there is always someone who has to operate the roasting machine to remove the excess water from the nuts. Once the cashews are slightly roasted, another pair of hands comes in to peel the cashew nut once more – this time removing the thin soft shell. And last but not least, there has to be someone ensuring that the final roasting and salting of the cashews turns out just so. All of this is happening right now and thanks to the factory the local families that used to live for less than 1 USD a day are slowly being lifted out of poverty.
So, are you still wondering why the price of your favourite nuts is so high compared to peanuts? I think you get the idea now, right? If you have not tried any of East Bali Cashews’ products just yet, please do! Not only are they amazingly delicious, but by purchasing them, you are directly supporting the development of East Bali’s poorest communities.
