Wondering why we don’t have cashews on our nut buffet?

Cashews have gotten a bit of a bad rap when it comes to sustainability. Most of the cashew nuts come from the African continent and Vietnam, and up until a few years ago the people in cashew nut production worked in extremely poor and dangerous conditions.

Cashews have to be shelled manually and there are many people in this production process with no other options.

Not to mention the long journey these nuts have before they end up with you. From Africa, via Vietnam, and then to Eastern Europe for processing. These nuts, when they end up with you, have traveled more than a Norwegian backpacker in the 90s!

Although the journey is mainly by ship and therefore has a low carbon footprint, it would be better for everyone if production, refining and processing at least took place on the same continent.

Etisk Handel has had a project since 2017, and has established a sustainable structure for, among other things, working conditions and pay conditions. Coop Norge is one of the members who have contributed to the project, so the next time you buy cashew nuts – look for the fairtrade mark on the bag before you put them in the shopping basket.

Unfortunately, it is still the case that many large buyers do not buy certified nuts. We have therefore chosen not to serve cashew nuts, until we have access to certified products.

We hope that buyers will make more informed choices in the future, so that by 2023 we may have a QR code that can proudly proclaim: NOW we have cashews on our nut buffet!

Until then, we hope you enjoy our large selection of other things.