W320 Cashew Kernels

300–320 kernels/lb — the world benchmark grade

W320 is the reference grade of the world cashew trade, and the number is a count: 300–320 kernels per pound, roughly 660–705 per kilogram. "W" means white whole — kernels that came through steaming, shelling and peeling intact and pale, without the scorching that downgrades a lot to SW. The contract sheet is short and well established under AFI specifications: moisture ≤ 5%, broken and damaged ≤ 5%, foreign matter nil, colour white to pale ivory, and vacuum packing in 22.68 kg (50 lb) tins or nitrogen-flushed flexi-packs because cashew is high in oil and goes rancid in air. Origins are Vietnam and India, which dominate processing, with growing volumes shelled in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Tanzania and Brazil.

Buy W320 when you want the standard rather than a statement. It is the size most retail packs, snack lines and general food manufacturers use, it has by far the deepest liquidity of any cashew grade, and quotes from multiple origins are directly comparable — which makes it the sensible default and the benchmark against which the other grades should be priced. Move up to W240, W210 or W180 only where kernel size is visible and paid for, in gifting packs and premium retail; those grades cost materially more for a nut that tastes identical. Move down to pieces where the kernel will be chopped, ground or baked into something, because paying whole-kernel money for material you are about to break up is pure waste. The recurring commercial issue on cashew is count verification — a lot sold as W320 that counts 340 to the pound is the standard dispute, and it is trivially checkable. CBIL supplies against SGS or Intertek certification of count per pound, moisture, broken percentage, colour grade and microbiology, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.