.Our story in a Nutshell
In 2019 we celebrated our 10-year anniversary.
Traceability
ANATRANS SA
Because cashew is mostly grown by smallholders in Africa and exported to Asia for processing, traceability of the product is a challenge for the sector. In the logistic process, the product often changes hands several times before reaching its destination, making it impossible to ensure the sustainability of the product and to make sure that the cashew has been produced without child-labour.
Anatrans sources directly from farmer groups in the South-West of Burkina Faso. We have agents embedded in the communities and we know the farmers whom we source from personally. We have put in place a traceability system, allowing us to share with clients exactly from which village a box of processed cashew originates. We are a member of the Sustainable Nut Initiative (SNI) (http://sustainablenutinitiative.com/) and our traceability information is available through a web portal to clients who are also a member of SNI.
We are currently transitioning from a paper based traceability system to an application on smartphones so that per bag of raw cashew bought and tagged with a barcode, we can have immediately the farmer and plantation information, timestamp and GPS-coordinates of purchase.
By products
REJOICE Sarl
In Burkina Faso, 78% of the mass of raw cashew nuts is not edible. This mass primarily consists of the shell and peel that surround the kernel, representing a significant amount of biomass for which there is currently no local market. A small portion of the shells is used to fuel a boiler that provides heat for our drying ovens.
To address the challenge of waste management and to harness the potential of these by-products, Anatrans SA established a subsidiary named Rejoice Sarl. Rejoice Sarl is focused on valorizing waste products, particularly cashew nut shells, by converting them into cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL).
The cashew shell contains a valuable substance known as CNSL, which we extract using a cold press method. Through a decarboxylation process, technical CNSL is produced. With its high calorific value, technical CNSL serves as an excellent feedstock or component for various applications. In addition to its use as a fuel, CNSL has a wide range of applications, including in friction linings, paints, rubber compounding resins, surfactants, and epoxy resins. We are actively collaborating with our technical partners to develop a local market for this versatile product.
Moreover, we are exploring additional uses for the by-product. We facilitate the training of local entrepreneurs to convert cashew shells into charcoal, providing a sustainable alternative to wood-based charcoal and helping to reduce deforestation. Additionally, we are investigating opportunities to transform this biomass into electricity, further expanding its potential uses.