Tree to Table

Most food supply chains are invisible. You buy a product, you consume it, and the journey that brought it to you is a mystery. At Rajasingucashews, we believe transparency is not a marketing feature — it is a quality assurance mechanism. If you cannot trace it, you cannot trust it.

Step 1 — The Flower (January–February)

Cashew trees in Panruti begin flowering in January. The flowers are tiny, pale yellow-pink, and they appear in dense clusters. Each flower can become a cashew nut — though in practice, a healthy tree produces around 200–400 nuts per season. Our farmers monitor the flowering density as an early indicator of that year's yield and grade potential.

Step 2 — The Harvest (April–June)

Harvest is entirely manual. Each cashew apple is picked by hand when it reaches full colour — yellow, orange, or red depending on the variety. The nut (the kidney-shaped seed attached to the base of the apple) is separated on-site and collected in ventilated jute sacks. Speed from tree to drying is critical. Nuts that sit in the field in the heat begin losing quality within hours.

Step 3 — Sun Drying (2–3 Days)

Freshly harvested cashew nuts contain 20–25% moisture. This must be reduced to below 9% before further processing. Our partner farmers dry their nuts on clean concrete pads under the Tamil Nadu sun, turning them twice daily. The drying typically takes 2–3 days in optimal weather. Improperly dried nuts are the most common cause of aflatoxin — a quality failure we have never experienced in our export history.

Step 4 — Processing at Our Facility

Dried nuts arrive at our FSSAI-certified facility within 48 hours of completion. The process: steam treatment (to loosen the shell), shelling (done by trained workers using simple mechanical tools that preserve whole kernels), peeling (the inner skin — the testa — is removed by gentle roasting and hand-peeling), and grading.

Step 5 — Quality Testing

Every export batch undergoes mandatory testing: moisture content, aflatoxin (B1, B2, G1, G2), microbial load (total plate count, E. coli, Salmonella), and physical grading confirmation. Tests are conducted at NABL-accredited third-party laboratories. No batch ships without a clean test report.

Step 6 — Packing and Shipment

Graded kernels are vacuum-packed in food-grade pouches with nitrogen flushing, then packed in export-grade cartons. Labeling includes: grade, batch number, processing date, FSSAI license number, country of origin, and net weight. Every carton carries a unique batch code that traces back to the originating farm and harvest date.