We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with East Bali Cashews in support of their mission of achieving social and environmental sustainability in the Asia region. We are even more excited that they are using Unleashed as their preferred system for managing their food production inventory.
If you are looking at importing cashews in your region – East Bali Cashews is the PERFECT choice. Current rate of production: 1,000 tons per year! Wow.
What does your food production business do?
East Bali Cashews is the first large-scale cashew processing facility in Indonesia and one of the first village based facilities in Southeast Asia.
Our value-added product range is sold throughout Indonesia, and exported to NZ, AUS, SGP, HK, JP and USA.
What’s one of your favorite products?
Our signature cashew flavor is the Native Cashew, an ancient recipe, yet novel to the market. Leaving the natural brown-colored skin on the nuts makes for a crunchier, more nutritious snack as the delicious skin is filled with goodness. With just a hint of sea salt, the native flavor is the closest to nature a cashew can get.
Why do you think your customers like this product so much?
Often described as a mixture between cashews and pistachios, these little nutters are a real savory flavor sensation. In addition to the extra crunch, the cashew skin also adds a bunch of healthy nutrients to the snack, making it a perfect snack for in between meals.
Can you give us a brief history of your business and the growth it has experienced so far?
Our story starts as all good stories should: with adventure, heart, and an appreciation for good food. Aaron Fishman has always been an explorer. His philosophy is to show up, start talking to people, and see which paths reveal themselves.
In 2012, Aaron joined a medical mission whose journey to Bali coincided with cashew season. When Aaron learned that the impoverished region ships cashews to India and Vietnam for processing, he saw an opportunity to turn lost profits and environmental waste into community progress by going local. With four investors and the help of his local partner Rezal, Aaron founded East Bali Cashews in July 2012.
After an exciting and successful first year of processing 180 tons of cashews and selling them to local hotels, super markets and restaurants, the company has made a tremendous positive impact on the surrounding villages and experienced a great amount of support and growth. Now in 2016, at more than 1,000 tons per year and 350+ employees, East Bali Cashews sells its value-added products throughout Indonesia and exports to 7 countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the US.
How is Unleashed helping your business grow?
Unleashed has been particularly helpful in enabling us to manage our inventory seamlessly across several different remote locations. Processing 1,000+ tons of cashews per year and producing 60+ value-added SKUs for the international retail market is a difficult feat, but one made all the more easy with Unleashed by our side. From purchasing, through production and final sale, Unleashed ticks all the boxes for our food production inventory management. Their support team has been absolutely invaluable in guiding us through our early growth phase, and continues to a big asset to our company on an ongoing basis.
Is there an interesting customer story you could share with our readers?
Being a big fan of our cashews and mission, Juliet asked to do an internship with us in 2015 for a couple of months. She kept on extending her stay to six months, fell in love even more, and now represents EBC in the US and manages our sales there! That’s the kind of spirit we love and cherish!
Is there something you are particularly excited for your business right now?
At East Bali Cashews, every day is as exciting as the first… Though our current operational focus lies on our international expansion in sales, we’re most excited about the upcoming launch of our new social initiative, The East Bali Centre for Community Development, later on this year.
Is there something your business in particularly proud of?
Adjacent to our factory we’ve built the region’s first preschool, where 60 kids from the village now get an early kick-start in life. We’re very proud of our school and enjoy seeing the kids learn, play and grow smarter and healthier every day. And the women providing a second income for the family of course – most of them have never been professionally employed before!
Are there any particular not-for-profit causes that you, or your business is passionate about, and why?
We are very passionate about having a sustainable positive impact on the people, community and environment around us. It’s engraved in our everyday actions and guides all our decisions. With this in mind, we are however also aware of the economics of the world and have a strong belief that social and environmental sustainability can only be properly achieved and sustained by also being financially sustainable. Perpetual and scalable sustainability requires the full package.
