For every cashew nut harvested, one perfectly edible and nutritious cashew apple is discarded. In Africa alone, 16 million tons of cashew apples rot every year when they are harvested. This is where the idea was born for Linnéa Falkinger to use the apple and process it locally in the country of production, both to create new local jobs and to produce a new, versatile and natural plant-based alternative to meat in cooking. The result was Cashewmeetly, which is now being launched nationally in Axfood stores. Through Dalarna Science Park, Linnea receives coaching in the development of the company.
Cashewmeetly is based on the idea of a circular, sustainable and social business model. Social entrepreneur Linnéa Falkinger wanted to create new jobs for otherwise unemployed women in Senegal, reduce food waste and offer a new sustainable plant-based food. At the same time, she wanted to reinvest part of the profits to fund children's and young people's schooling, support local charity projects and offer microloans to creative entrepreneurs in the country of production.
The idea was to make use of the cashew apple, the fruit itself and the 'waste product' of cashew nut production. In Africa alone, 16 million tons of cashew apples rot away every year during the cashew harvest. 57% of the world's cashew nuts come from Africa. Only 5% of the nuts are processed locally, resulting in the loss of thousands of local jobs and nutritious food.
Cooperation and business development with science parks
Via Dalarna Science Park's partner Krinova Science Park, which specializes in food, Linnéa and Axfood got in touch at the beginning of the year. And since then, work has been underway to develop and launch Cashewmeetly widely on the Swedish market.
- I want to build a brand that does good for people, the climate and the economy. But to really make a difference, a lot of work is needed in areas such as quality assurance, packaging, distribution and marketing - and to achieve large volumes. Working with Axfood gives me a chance to reach the market broadly and in several different ways.
The hope is to establish Cashewmeetly globally, and start more sustainable circular productions in other countries that have large productions of cashew nuts where the cashew apples are still wasted, says Linnéa Falkinger.
Launch of the vegan meat in stores
Cashewmeetly is a versatile cooking product, with no additives. You can boil, fry, wok and grill the veggie meat, or put it in the food processor and mince it. Only your imagination sets the limits. When cooked, the cashew apple is fruity, slightly acidic and has good chewing resistance.
In the latter part of October 2021, Cashewmeetly will be available at Urban Deli, Willys, Willys Hemma and Hemköp stores and on Mat.se, and thus available in over 300 stores and e-commerce across the country.
-It is a pleasure to follow and support an entrepreneur like Linnea through both setbacks and successes, as it always is when a new product is developed and launched on a market. Linnea is now at one of her milestones when the product will be launched on the market and it will be incredibly exciting to see how it is received. We are proud of the work Linnea has done to get here and the great positive impact the product and business model have on people, the climate and the economy, says Victoria Ställberg, Head of Business Development.
Facts about Cashewmeetly and cashew apples
Cashewmeetly is made from a single ingredient: 100% naturally refined cashew apples. The cashew apple is a so-called false fruit, which looks like a cross between a pepper and an apple. Underneath the cashew apple grows the real fruit, a kidney-shaped stone fruit, which contains the seed that most people recognize as a cashew nut.
For every 10 kilograms of cashew nuts consumed, 90 kilograms of fully edible and nutritious cashew apples are thrown away. Consumption of cashew nuts is increasing by around 40% per year, and so is the food waste of all the cashew apples that are discarded. Taking the apple and using it as a new type of vegan meat will therefore both reduce food waste and contribute to sustainable food production, with a product that is of high quality and taste, and is completely natural.
The cashew apple is low in calories and a natural source of minerals, iron, phosphorus, calcium, protein, potassium, fiber and carotenes, and the cashew apple contains 5 times as much vitamin C as an orange. The colorful by-product smells sweet, but when fresh it has a harsh aftertaste, a bit like an unripe banana. The shelf life is less than 24 hours once the apple is detached from the tree. Then the rotting process begins, and millions of tons of cashew apples rot away every year around the world, when the cashew nuts are harvested.
Cashewmeetly takes the waste fruit directly from the farmers and then refines it through a special drying process. This creates a nutritious food that in cooking offers a unique, fruity and slightly acidic flavor and meaty texture that fits just as well in the long boil as in the taco or on the skewer.
The production of Cashewmeetly creates new jobs for unemployed women in the country of production and the entire production has a social, circular and social business model. Part of the profits are used to finance children and young people's schooling, support local charity projects and offer microloans to entrepreneurs in the country of production.
With a long shelf life in its dried form and with the social business model created by Cashewmeetly, the product does good for both the climate and the people along the entire product chain.
