Cashew Nut Processing: Dominated by Domestic Businesses

At the presentation of cashew processing equipment held recently in Binh Duong province by the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), Mr Nguyen Thai Hoc, Chairman of Vinacas, said that more than 80 per cent of equipment used in cashew processing plants is made by domestic manufacturers.

 

This is the outcome of Programme KC07, carried out from 2006 to 2010, with the overall objective of researching applications and developing technologies for countryside industrialisation and modernisation. The research programme was deployed in four fields: agricultural engineering, processing and preservation of agricultural products, rural industries, and environment. These research and application results were rated excellent by a State-level scientist council for perfect parameters. A cashew nut cutter reduces the broken seed rate from over 30 per cent to less than 10 per cent (compared with over 10 per cent of broken nuts when done manually). A cutter can process 1,600 kg of nuts a shift, equivalent to 10 - 12 workers.

 

Meanwhile, a peeler is capable of processing 1.6 tonnes of nuts a shift (compared with 10kg of nuts processed by a worker), with purity in excess of 86 per cent, and broken nut rate lower than 13.7 per cent. All these criteria are higher than initial targets. Thanks to understanding the production processes and utility, processors boldly and quickly put them into use.

 

At this third exhibition, all 13 exhibitors are domestic enterprises, including Khuong Viet, Anco Viet, Son Viet, My Anh An, Phuc Thang, Gia Loi, Tien Loc Phat, Viet Le Nguyen and Thanh Son. Currently, all processing stages like cutting, splitting and husk peeling are mechanised, helping reduce the workforce requirement by nearly 80 per cent and helping the industry avoid production cuts because of severe labour shortages.

Equipment limitations and shortcomings are gradually addressed by enterprises. Mr Nguyen Duc Thanh, Standing Vice Chairman of Vinacas, said that shell cracking is the most important and most time-consuming of the 13 stages of cashew processing. This process also needs further improvement to completely automate cashew processing lines in Vietnam.

 

Apart from colour identification equipment for nut classification, other stages like steaming or roasting, shell cracking, husk peeling, and nut size classification have been effectively performed by domestic firms, exceeding the technical specifications of foreign machines. Over 50 per cent of cashew processing plants use husk peeling equipment made by local manufacturers. The rate is expected to reach 100 per cent in the next 2-3 years. Locally made cashew processing lines also help cut the need for production line workers by 50 - 60 per cent.

 

Mr Nguyen Thai Hoc said that a lot of limitations have been gradually overcome over the time. For instance, shell crackers are not contaminated with oil as before. Up to 70 - 80 per cent of husk peelers are automated and the rate is expected to reach 80 - 85 per cent soon.

 

Prices of locally made production equipment are 40 per cent - 50 per cent lower than foreign ones. Of course, certain parts are imported, like colour filters, but up to 80 per cent of parts are domestically produced. Currently, very few companies are using foreign equipment. These advances are the foundation for further research and upgrades of equipment features and functions, because some stages cannot be fully mechanized. For example, husk peelers and nut classifiers can do only 50 per cent of jobs and the rest is done by workers.

 

Price is an advantage of domestically made equipment, said Nguyen Thai Hoc. A 5,000 tonne plant using domestic equipment requires 40 per cent less investment capital than a foreign one. This advantage also draws buyers from India, the world’s second largest cashew exporter after Vietnam.

 

Inaccuracy, material durability and lifespan are weaknesses of domestic equipment. Producers need to address these shortcomings. The application of equipment helps ease the labour shortage and boost food hygiene and safety.