Chey Sambo Cashew Nut Processing Handicraft in Kampong Thom province has planned to scale up the amount of processed cashew nuts for exports to Japan this year, after experiencing successful exports last year, which resulted in huge support in the Japanese market.
The first batch of cashew nut export this year from the handicraft will be made in February, said In Lai Huot, founder of Chey Sambo Cashew Nut Processing Handicraft.
“In the upcoming February, we will start to export another shipment of processed cashew nuts to Japan. We plan this year for nine tons of semi-finished cashew nuts,” she told Khmer Times.
Last year, the handicraft shipped to Japan about 7 tons of processed cashew nuts.
Handicraft, formed in 2019, collects cashews from 100 farmer families who plant the crop on more than 700 hectares of land in Kampong Thom province.
The export of cashew nuts is made under a contract with Japan-based Top Planning Japan Co Ltd.
By 2023, the Chey Sambo Cashew Nut Processing Handicraft plans to increase cashew nut export to 10 tons.
The handicraft company is studying to expand to other markets for cashew nuts in Asean and China.
Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries showed that the amount of unprocessed cashew nut export increased by 328 percent in 2021 to some 937,974 tons.
Of the total, 50 percent were unprocessed cashew nuts.
Currently, the biggest market for the Kingdom’s cashew nuts is Vietnam, accounting for 98 percent of total export.
Increasing the ability to export processed cashew nuts is in line with the drafting of a national policy on cashew nuts to increase the cultivation and export of more cashew products to international markets.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, the drafting of national policy is being finalised by gathering inputs from stakeholders and relevant parties.
The draft national policy is to turn Cambodia into an important producer and supplier of cashew products to serve the local, regional and global markets, the ministry said.
Under the policy, the cashew nuts production chain is expected to be established for supplying finished cashew nut products to the local market, reducing imports of finished products and for exporting to foreign markets, increasing the value-added price to products.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
