Page 125 - The Costco Connection - October 2018

INSIDE COSTCO // BUYING SMARTBUYING SMART

PHOTOS: @ RED RIVER

Left: Cashews grow beneath
their cashew “apples.”
Above: Sorting cashews.
Nuts for perfection

Costco’s Kirkland Signature cashews buying team
brings passion to its worldwide private-label program

© COSTCO PHOTO STUDIO by LAURA BODE its cashews mainly from Africa and
T
he process of bringing cashews
Vietnam, says Knapp.
to market is nothing short of
extraordinary. “Many people
Cashew trees can live upward of †
aren’t aware of just how chal-
lenging it is to harvest and prepare these
through May for the majority of the crop.
nuts for their journey to Costco,” says years, and their growing cycle is March
Laura Bode, a free- Justin Knapp, Kirkland Signature™ Many hurdles
lance writer based in foods buyer. (As far as I knew, for exam- As cashew season approaches, little
Camas, Washington, ple, they grew in California and you just “apples” start to appear on the tree. Out
fills this month’s
consumer report- shook the trees to gather them. Um. of each of these “apples” (which are not
er slot with this Wrong.) For Costco buyers, it is a multi- really a fruit, but the swollen end of the
behind-the-scenes step process that involves visiting farms, stem just above the cashew nut), a single
look at a Costco processing and packaging facilities, and cashew nut forms.
program. Email communities in multiple countries Cashew harvesting takes place about
questions about across the globe, with an emphasis on two months after the nut forms, when the
this article to buying
smart@costco.com. both quality and sustainability. apple turns a pinkish-red color and the
nut turns gray. Farmers wait until the
Where and how do cashews grow? fruit falls to the ground, then twist the nut
Drought-resistant cashew trees off by hand.
are native to Brazil and now grow in Following collecting/harvesting,
many parts of the world. Costco sources cashews must be dried, shelled, blanched,
108 Costco Connection OCTOBER 2018

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