Cashew is the only major nut where shelling cannot be fully automated. Every kernel that leaves Souparnika has been touched by a hand at least four times.
Souparnika buys raw cashew nut (RCN) from trusted Kerala-belt suppliers and from selected West African origins — Ivory Coast, Benin, Tanzania. Every truck-in is photographed, weighed, and tagged with a lot number that travels with the kernel all the way to the export tin.
Origin · KL + WAF · 80 kg jute bag inboundRCN is sun-dried on covered cement floors until moisture falls below the steaming threshold. Too wet, and the kernel will scorch in the cooker; too dry, and the shell will refuse to part cleanly from the kernel during cutting.
Target moisture · < 12% before steamThe dried RCN is loaded into pressure cookers and exposed to saturated steam at controlled pressure for a calibrated dwell. Steam softens the brittle shell so the kernel can be released whole — the difference between a Jumbo and a Split is decided here.
Cooker · 100°C + pressurised · ~25 min dwellThe steamed nut is fed to skilled shellers — almost always women — who use a pedal-operated cutter to split the shell along its natural seam and release the kernel intact. Whole-kernel yield is the single highest determinant of a Kollam house's economics.
Whole-kernel yield · target 90%+ of lotThe shelled kernel goes back into chambers for a second dry, which loosens the thin red-brown testa around the kernel. The skin is then peeled — by hand for premium W180 / W210 / W240, mechanically for volume grades.
Hand-peeled · W180–W320 · machine for the restPeeled kernels are sorted by colour, size, and damage class into one of nine industry-recognised grades — W180 through W450, scorched wholes, splits, and four piece classes. Final QC is by sight on a calibrated light table.
9 grades · 100% hand-checked on light tableGraded kernels are vacuum-packed into flexi-pouches inside the industry-standard 22.68 kg tin (or 25 kg carton on request) and nitrogen-flushed to displace residual oxygen. This locks freshness through a six- to eight-week ocean voyage.
22.68 kg vac tin · N₂ flush · buyer label on requestTins are containerised at the nearest gateway — Cochin (ICTT Vallarpadam) or Tuticorin — and shipped against the buyer's chosen Incoterm. Every consignment leaves with a lot certificate, packing list, phytosanitary, and origin documents bound to the bill of lading.
Port · COK · TUT · FOB · CIF · CFRSite visits by appointment, with notice — Decent Junction, Kollam. Lot photographs and reference samples shared by courier on request.
