It is the question we are asked more than any other: should I buy W240 or W320? Both are white whole cashew kernels. Both come off the same line, from the same lots, to the same standard. The difference is size — and the price gap between them is large enough that choosing the wrong one quietly costs money on every container.
The short answer
Buy W320 unless something about your product specifically requires a larger kernel. W320 is the most widely traded cashew grade in the world, it is the default in most international contracts, and for the majority of end uses the customer cannot tell the difference once the nut is roasted, salted, coated or chopped.
Buy W240 when the kernel is seen whole and its size is part of what the customer is paying for — premium retail, gifting, hospitality, or anywhere the nut sits visibly on top of something.
What the numbers actually mean
The letter describes colour and wholeness: W is a white whole kernel. The number is how many whole kernels make up one pound, or 454 grams. So a lower number means fewer kernels per pound, which means each kernel is larger.
| Grade | Kernels per lb | Typical use | Relative price |
|---|---|---|---|
| W180 | About 170–180 | Gifting, premium retail, display | Highest |
| W210 | About 200–210 | Premium retail | High |
| W240 | About 220–240 | Premium snacking, confectionery, visible whole nut | Above standard |
| W320 | About 300–320 | Mainstream retail, bulk snacking, foodservice | The benchmark |
| W450 | About 400–450 | Cost-sensitive volume use | Below standard |
Note what the table does not say. It does not say W240 is cleaner, fresher, safer or better tasting than W320. It is not. Within the white whole grades, the eating quality is the same. You are paying for size, and size alone.
Why larger kernels cost more
Large kernels are scarcer. A lot of raw cashew produces a spread of kernel sizes, and the proportion at the top of that spread is limited by the nuts the trees actually grew. A processor cannot decide to make more W240 from a lot; they can only sort what is there. Because demand for the large grades is steady and supply is capped by nature, they carry a premium.
There is a second reason. Larger kernels are more fragile during shelling and peeling, so a higher share of them break and drop out of the whole-grade pool altogether. Protecting large kernels through processing takes more care, and that care is priced in.
The mistake that costs the most money
The most expensive error we see is buying a large white grade for a product that destroys the reason you paid for it. If the kernel is going to be roasted dark, coated in chocolate, spiced, chopped into a bar or ground into a paste, the size premium buys you nothing the customer will ever notice.
In those cases the better buy is often not W320 either — it is a scorched grade. Scorched kernels are whole kernels that picked up a deeper colour during processing. Same size counts, same eating quality, lower price. Our guide to cashew grades explains where scorched and broken grades make sense.
Cost per kilo is not cost per kernel
A subtle point worth doing the arithmetic on. If you sell a fixed-weight retail pack, the grade does not change how much product goes in the bag — it changes how many nuts the customer sees. A 150g pack of W240 contains fewer, bigger kernels than the same pack of W320.
If your customer values a generous-looking count, W320 can actually present better. If they value a few impressive nuts, W240 wins. That is a marketing decision as much as a procurement one, and it is worth making deliberately rather than by habit.
How to specify the grade on a contract
Whichever you choose, a grade on its own is not a specification. A contract that protects both sides names:
- The grade, written in full — for example W320, white whole kernels
- The standard it is graded against. Most international cashew contracts reference the Association of Food Industries (AFI) specification
- Maximum moisture content
- Defect tolerances for that grade
- Packaging format and net weight per carton
- Incoterm and port — ours is FOB Tema unless agreed otherwise
If any of those are missing, you are relying on goodwill to resolve a disagreement later. How we check every lot sets out what we measure before a consignment is packed.
How many kernels are actually in a kilo?
Buyers think in kilos and tonnes; grades are written in pounds. The conversion is worth having to hand, because it turns an abstract grade code into something you can picture in a pack.
| Grade | Kernels per lb | Approx. kernels per kg | In a 150g retail pack |
|---|---|---|---|
| W180 | 170–180 | About 375–400 | Roughly 56–60 kernels |
| W240 | 220–240 | About 485–530 | Roughly 73–79 kernels |
| W320 | 300–320 | About 660–705 | Roughly 99–106 kernels |
| W450 | 400–450 | About 880–990 | Roughly 132–148 kernels |
Those counts are approximate and will vary within tolerance, but the shape of it is the point: a shopper holding a 150g pack of W320 sees around a third more nuts than the same pack of W240. Whether that reads as generous or as small depends entirely on the market you are selling into.
Does grade availability change through the season?
Yes, and it catches buyers out. The size mix in any given period reflects the raw nut that has been processed, and raw nut is not uniform across a harvest or across growing areas. Early-season lots and late-season lots do not always yield the same proportion of large kernels.
The practical consequence is that a standing order for a large grade is harder to guarantee than one for W320, and it is worth agreeing early rather than assuming. Our harvest calendar sets out when new-crop material comes through.
Five questions worth asking any cashew supplier
- Which standard are you grading against? If the answer is vague, the grade is vague.
- What is your maximum moisture, and how is it verified? Moisture affects weight, shelf life and mould risk.
- What defect tolerance applies to this grade? Every grade has one; it should be written down.
- Can I see the grading record for the lot I am buying? A processor who grades properly has the paperwork.
- What happens if a consignment falls outside specification? Agree this before you need it, not after.
A supplier who answers all five without hesitation is telling you something useful about how they run. Here is how we answer them.
The summary
W240 and W320 are the same product at two sizes. Pay the premium when size is visible and part of the promise. Take W320 when it is not, and put the difference into volume, packaging or margin. And if the kernel is going to be roasted dark or ground, look at scorched grades before you look at either.
So which should you buy?
Start from the product, not the price list. Ask what the customer sees. If they see the whole kernel and its size is part of the promise, pay for W240. If the kernel is processed further, or sold in volume where consistency matters more than scale, W320 is the grade the world runs on for good reason.
We supply both, graded to AFI standard and packed at origin in Drobo, Bono Region. See our cashew kernel range, or tell us your grade, volume and destination and we will quote against current availability.