African Cashew Alliance

Home

Activities

2007 Activities & News

Crunch time for African cashews: Growing the local market

Cashew processing at ACASEN in Senegal

Leading cashew processors and exporters in India and Vietnam are bolstered by a strong local market, where nuts are a regular part of the diet, and the husks and skin of the cashew kernel are used in paint and brake-oil industries. But in Africa, source of a third of the world’s cashews, local consumption is low, providing little incentive to process the nuts closer to home.

A new survey, Cashew Retail Market Study by WATH/Accra and the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) showcases opportunities for growing the regional market in 10 West African countries.

“Increasing local consumption will help the local cashew processing industry grow, thus generating more jobs and keeping the added value of processing in country instead of exporting the raw cashews,” says Vanessa Adams, the Trade Hub’s export business development director.

“Cashew Processing, Marketing and Consumption in West Africa: Current Status and Opportunities,” due to be published this summer, uses surveys, interviews, and taste tests with food processors, retail vendors, and consumers to provide in-depth assessments of the consumer markets and points out specific opportunities in ten countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. It also provides practical suggestions for cashew processors and roasters to increase their sales in the region.

Already, West Africa’s processing capacity is growing rapidly. International nut trading companies Olam and Global Trading have built new cashew-processing factories in Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria in the past two years. At least three local businesses have set up facilities in Burkina Faso and Nigeria targeting the export market. Increased local consumption would build on this momentum.

Opportunities to grow the regional market include:

An ideal example of packaging from Nigeria

Improve packaging: Consumers compared packaging and most often chose simple plastic packs for small quantities – snack or travel size. For large quantities, they liked attractive, sturdy, re-sealable packs. In all cases, consumers wanted to be able to see through the packaging to evaluate the quality of the product.

Develop distribution channels: Distribution through hotels and in tourist areas with company or national labeling is virtually untapped, though hotel managers profess interest.

Consider regional trade: Average retail prices for cashews vary enormously from country to country, as does the availability of cashews in supermarkets, road-side shops, fuel stations and restaurants. On advice from WATH/A, several cashew processors have started to sell across their borders. Benin processors GK5 and EMS recently found a Nigerian buyer, ensuring a consistent market for their roasted cashews and allowing them to grow their operations. Processors in Guinea-Bissau have potential markets in the Gambia, Mali, and Senegal.

Increase use of secondary products: Cashew butter is made in very small quantities in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Ghana, and Senegal, but this product is new and not yet widely consumed.

Cashew cookies, nougats, and sweets are produced in a few bakeries in the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Several bakeries and many local food processors in all ten countries indicated that they were interested in cashew-based products, but lack recipes and experience in introducing new products.

One Nigerian processor has used three of these tactics. Abod Success, has increased sales by diversifying packaging, sizes, and flavors and building a strong distribution network, even supplying the Hilton Hotel in Nigeria. Abod has bought over $80,000 of raw cashew kernels from neighboring Benin over this year to roast, salt and package and sell in Nigeria.

Exports from Benin

“The report offers a very good overview of the situation in the West African cashew market. There is a need for increased processing capacity in West Africa," said Mary Adzanyo, Trade Development Manager with Royal Ahold in Ghana. "And this report is a tool that processors can use to scale up regional sales, which is necessary to reach sufficient volumes to sell internationally.”

Download the report that WATH/A and ACA conducted with support from WATH/Dakar, Comafrique, GTZ, Olam International, SNV, the U.S. Peace Corps, PAMER/IFAD Burkina Faso, other USAID projects, the Nigeria America Chamber of Commerce in Lagos and the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture. The individual country reports will be available this summer at www.watradehub.com/accra and www.africancashewalliance.com

by Cilia de Cock and Julianna White

[ Back ]