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Cashewmeetly launches new sustainable vegan meat on cashew apple in store
For every cashew nut that is harvested, a completely edible and nutritious cashew apple is thrown away. In Africa alone, 16 million tonnes of cashews rot every year in connection with the cashew harvest. This is where Linnéa Falkinger’s idea was born to take care of the apple and refine it on site in the country of production, both to create new local jobs and to create a new, versatile and natural plant-based alternative to meat in cooking. The result was Cashewmeetly, which is now being launched nationally in Axfood’s stores. Through Dalarna Science Park, Linnea receives coaching in the development of the company.

Cashewmeetly rests on the idea of a circular, sustainable and social business model. The 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 some of the profits to finance 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 take advantage of the cashew nut, the fruit itself and the ”residual product” from the production of cashew nuts. In Africa alone, 16 million tonnes of cashews rot away each year in connection with the harvest of cashews. 57 percent of the world’s cashews come from Africa. Only 5 percent of the nuts are processed locally, which means that thousands of local jobs are lost, and nutritious food is wasted.

Collaboration 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, the work has been going on to develop and launch Cashewmeetly widely on the Swedish market.

– I want to build a brand that is good for people, the climate and the economy. But to really make a difference requires a lot of work with, for example, quality assurance, packaging, distribution and marketing – and to bring up large volumes. Through the collaboration with Axfood, I get a chance to reach the market broadly and in several different ways. The hope is to be able to establish Cashewmeetly globally, and start more sustainable circular productions in other countries that have large productions of cashew nuts where cashews are still wasted, says Linnéa Falkinger.

Launch of vegan meat in store

Cashewmeetly is a versatile cooking product, completely without additives. You can cook, fry, wok and grill the vegan meat, or put it in the food processor and drive to minced meat. Only the imagination sets limits. Cooked, the cashew waffle is fruity, slightly sour and has good chewing resistance.

During 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 privilege to follow and support an entrepreneur like Linnea through both setbacks and successes, as it always is when a new product is developed and is to be launched on a market. Now Linnea is at one of its milestones when the product will be 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 has on both people, the climate and the economy, says Victoria Ställberg, Head of Business Development.

Facts about Cashewmeetly and cashews

Cashewmeetly consists of a single ingredient, namely 100 percent naturally processed cashew apple. The cashew apple is a so-called fake fruit, which looks like a mixture between a pepper and an apple. Under 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 kilos of cashews consumed today, 90 kilos of fully edible and nutritious cashews are thrown away, which until now have been seen as a waste product. Consumption of cashews increases by about 40 percent per year, and food waste for all cashews that are discarded as well. Taking care of the apple and using it as a new type of vegan meat thus reduces both food waste, and the product can contribute to sustainable food production, with a product that maintains a high quality and taste, and is completely natural.

The cashew apple is low in calories and is a natural source of minerals, iron, phosphorus, calcium, protein, potassium, fiber and carotene, and the cashew apple contains 5 times as much vitamin C as an orange. The colorful by-product smells sweet, but in its fresh state has a rough aftertaste, a bit like an unripe banana. The shelf life is less than 24 hours when the apple is detached from the tree. Then the decay process begins, and millions of tons of cashews therefore rot away every year around the world, in connection with the harvest of the cashews.

Cashewmeetly takes care of the waste fruit directly from the farmers and then processes it through a special drying method

This creates a nutritious food that in cooking offers a unique, fruity and slightly sour taste and meaty texture that fits just as well in the slow cooker 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 profit goes 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 that Cashewmeetly has created, the product is good for both the climate and the people along the entire product chain. This creates a nutritious food that offers a unique, fruity and slightly sour taste and meaty texture fits just as well in the slow cooker as in the tacos 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 profit goes 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 that Cashewmeetly has created, the product is good for both the climate and the people along the entire product chain.