Just saw this news item…
Top cashew producer Ivory Coast is to open three new processing plants with the aim of tripling its output of shelled nuts by next year, its Cotton-Cashew Council said Tuesday. The African country last year produced a record one million tonnes of nuts, up from 850,000 tonnes in 2019, but just 10 percent have so far been processed domestically. Ivory Coast aims to process more of its own crop for sale in the huge American market.
This interests me because I like cashews and have recently noticed their price soaring higher than Jeff Bezos in his spaceship. For a few years now, I've been purchasing this from Mr. Bezos' company. It's a box containing eighteen little baggies, each holding 1.5 oz. of Planters Salted Cashew — just the right amount for a quick snack.
For quite a while, they were $11.24 a box but the last time I got them at that price was an order I placed on 5/24/21. When I ordered a box on 8/12/21, the price had doubled to $22.50. And right now, they're $27.49. Other, non-Amazon vendors, seem to have had similar price escalations. I dunno if this is COVID-related or climate-related or what. All I know is the price of cashews is going up and up. Will the new competition from Ivory Coast bring the price down? That would be nice.