Cashew industry unites, heading towards the future

Concentrate resources for epidemic prevention

"As Vietnamese cashew nuts have affirmed their prestige with Europe and the USA, after the epidemic in Vietnam in particular and around the world in general is under control, many opportunities will come for the cashew industry to develop. What needs to be done now is to work with the Government to concentrate all resources to prevent Covid-19, soon return production under ‘new normal’ conditions", said the chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS).

Facing the risk of disruption in the cashew nuts supply from Vietnam, on August 4th, 2021, the President of the Association of Food Industries (AFIUS) has sent a letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, proposing to prioritize the distribution of vaccines to the agricultural production and food processing workforce in Vietnam, especially in the cashew industry.

In a similar manner, on August 18th, 2021, FRUCOM represented about 250 European importers of processed foods, including cashew nuts, and also sent a letter of proposal to the Prime Minister of Vietnam. The letter stated: “… Cashew industry needs urgent support with vaccination to keep the supply chain working, especially in the South. This sector provides food for the people and generates tax income for the Government, and at the same time maintains jobs related to processing, domestic and foreign trade. Therefore, in our opinion, it should be considered a priority sector”.

In the long run, cashew production must increase its position in the global value chain

According to VINACAS, solving the cashew industry value issue and improving Vietnam's position in the global cashew value chain are the problems of the whole industry.

In order to improve the cashew industry’s value chain, making full use of the current pre-processing technology resources, the cashew industry of Vietnam will continue to invest in cashew kernel processing technology, renewing equipment to increase deep-processed products by more than 30% so as to improve its export position and bring greater value to the industry.

As claimed by Mr. Cong, the application of science and technology, mechanization and automation in cashew production and processing has solved the difficult problems concerning the environment, labor, and product quality control of the cashew industry in the past few years. Thereby, the Vietnam cashew industry, although starting late, has quickly created a firm reputation and position in the global cashew market.

However, apart from the success, it is also necessary to reflect and re-evaluate the limitations and challenges of the industry, because most of the cashew processing factories in Vietnam are mechanized but the levels of mechanization have not been synchronized and the efficiency is not high. The stages that use a lot of workers such as hard shell cutting, silk-skin peeling, and nut sorting have all been mechanized but have not been fully automated in the processing cycle...

According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's cashew exports in the first six months of 2021 reached 273.54 thousand tons, worth USD 1.65 billion, up 21.8% in volume and 10.8% in value over the same period in 2020.

According to the plan of VINACAS, in 2021 and the following years, the cashew industry will continue to persistently implement the goals of "keeping volume, increasing quality, increasing prices" in production, business and export. To be specific, in 2021, the cashew industry strives to achieve an export turnover of USD 3.6 billion, an increase of nearly 13% compared to 2020.