Three published sources describe what a tonne of RCN becomes. They are mutually incompatible, and this chapter says so rather than presenting a tidy balance that hides the disagreement.
The balance does not close
| Reading | Shell | CNSL | Kernel | Testa | Rejects | Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 50% | 20–25%, inside the 50% shell | 25–30% incl. testa | (in kernel) | — | — |
| B | ~70% | not stated | ~20% (derived by subtraction) | ~3% | ~3% | ~4% |
| C | — | — | 22–24% saleable packed kernel | — | — | — |
Reading A gives 25–30% kernel. Reading B leaves about 20%. The production figure used throughout this guide is 22–24%. The shell fraction differs between A and B by twenty percentage points of the whole nut, and no arithmetic reconciles them.
Part of the divergence is measurement point rather than disagreement. Shell weighed at the shelling station is wet with condensate, gelled CNSL and adhering kernel fragments. Shell weighed dry after a week in a yard is a different number. Neither source states which it did.
So build outward from the number you trust and label the rest:
| Fraction | % of RCN as received | Basis | Measurement point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saleable packed kernel, all grades | 22–24 | Production KOR | Weighbridge at packing, after final conditioning |
| Shell | 50–70 | Published range, unresolved | Shelling station, wet, with CNSL and adhering fragments |
| Testa | ~3 | Published | Peeler cyclone / testa collection |
| Rejected kernel | ~3 | Published | After revision at the shelling sort |
| Moisture and process loss | balance | Derived by difference | Not directly weighed anywhere |
Weigh your own. ComCashew’s instruction is the right one and almost nobody follows it: “It is especially important to record weight loss of the kernel throughout the process.” Four weighing points — intake, post-shelling kernel, post-peeling kernel, packed kernel — plus shell and testa out, logged daily, give you a balance for your own nuts inside one season.
Switch between the three readings. The kernel fraction barely moves; the shell fraction moves by twenty points of the whole nut.
| Fraction | % of RCN | Measurement point |
|---|---|---|
| Saleable packed kernel | 22–24 | Weighbridge at packing, after final conditioning |
| Shell | 50–70 | Shelling station — wet, with CNSL and adhering fragments |
| Testa | 3 | Peeler cyclone |
| Rejected kernel | 3 | After revision at the shelling sort |
| Residual / unresolved | 0–22 | Not weighed anywhere — derived by difference |
One separation that must stay rigid
Quality-check KOR is a laboratory cutting test used to price a lot of RCN, in pounds per 80 kg bag. ComCashew works the example: an outturn of 49 lbs per 80 kg bag means 49 lbs — 22.2 kg — of kernel usable by the manufacturer from 80 kg of nuts, which is about 27.75%.
Production KOR is kilograms of final packed saleable kernel per 100 kg of RCN actually processed: 22–24 kg.
These are two different measures and one must never be compared to the other. Buyers price on the first. Your bank is repaid out of the second.
Where yield is lost, stage by stage
| Stage | Mechanism | Published figure | Mass or grade? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | KOR decline over time | No published curve exists | Both, unquantified |
| Shelling | Brokens; uncut nuts; fragments left in shell | Broken under 3%, 3–5% claimed; uncut under 5% | Mostly grade |
| Drying | Moisture removal; scorching | To 3–4% moisture | Mass (water) and grade (colour) |
| Peeling | Breakage; testa removed | 4–8% breakage; testa ~3% of RCN | Grade, plus real mass as testa |
| Grading | Machine-induced breakage | “Consistently experienced problems” | Grade |
| Packing | Final moisture adjustment; QC and detector rejects | To 3–5% | Mass (water) |
Most of what a cashew plant loses is grade, not mass. A broken kernel is still in the bag, worth roughly 16% less. A scorched kernel is still in the bag, on a different price line.
That is why plants with identical KOR figures can post very different results, and why the whole-to-split and white-to-scorched mix belongs on the daily report next to tonnage. A tonnage-only report will show a good month in which you lost money.
The energy side, and the surplus nobody sells
Shell is the reliable by-product. Factories typically consume only 5–25% of the shell they produce for their own thermal needs — a surplus of four to twenty times — at a calorific value around 5,000 kcal/kg (about 20.9 MJ/kg), with briquettes near 4,800 kcal/kg.
Burn what the boiler needs and sell the rest. A plant that treats shell purely as waste to be disposed of is paying to remove a fuel it could sell, and the disposal cost appears in the accounts while the foregone revenue does not.
Measure energy per tonne processed as a standing metric. Without it, boiler efficiency is invisible, and a boiler quietly losing efficiency looks exactly like a raw-material price increase in the monthly accounts.