Premium Whole Cashews (W180 / W210 / W240)

170–240 kernels/lb — the gifting & premium retail sizes

W180, W210 and W240 are the bold end of the cashew ladder, and they are bought for one reason: kernel size that a customer can see. W180 runs 170–180 kernels per pound and is the largest commercially graded whole, sometimes marketed as the "king" size; W210 runs 200–210 and W240 runs 220–240. Every other specification matches the standard sheet — moisture ≤ 5%, broken and damaged ≤ 5%, white to pale ivory colour, vacuum tins or nitrogen-flushed flexi-packs — because these are not better nuts, they are bigger ones, sorted out of the same crop. Supply is correspondingly tighter: a given lot of raw nut yields only so many bold kernels, which is why the premium over W320 is steep and widens when the crop is poor.

Buy the bold grades where presentation carries the sale: gifting and festive packs, premium retail in clear packaging, hotel and airline amenity, and any programme where the pack is compared on shelf against a competitor's. That is a real commercial function and worth paying for. Where it is money wasted is anywhere the kernel is roasted and seasoned into a mixed snack, chopped into confectionery, or ground — the eating quality of W180 and W320 is indistinguishable, and blind tasting will not separate them. The honest way to price these is as a premium over the W320 benchmark rather than in isolation, and to watch that premium: in a tight crop year the bold-grade spread can widen enough that stepping down one grade is the better commercial decision. CBIL supplies against SGS or Intertek certification of count per pound, moisture, broken percentage, colour and microbiology, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.