KardiaNuts - Pakka Foundation

Investing in Impact

P4G has awarded the partnership about $310,000 in grant funding. 

KardiaNuts owns a 1,200 hectare cashew plantation where it produces and processes jumbo cashew nuts for domestic and international markets. The business is the first organic certified cashew farm in Colombia and cultivates its own seedlings. It is self-sufficient in the production of seeds and grafts required to produce the cashew trees. 

This self-sufficiency across the cashew value chain extends to its bio-factory where it produces fertilizers for the whole plantation. It also uses cover crops to aid soil regeneration. 

The innovation in this business model is the inclusion of local landowners to help expand KardiaNuts supplier base. KardiaNuts enters contracts with landowners to help manage their farms for them. KardiaNuts helps plant, maintain and harvest land that would otherwise go unattended and in return, the landowners sell KardiaNuts their raw cashew nuts at fair trade prices. The business collaborates with the landowners to train them on regenerative agroforestry methods and involve them in the process of growing cashews. KardiaNuts currently operates an additional 350 hectares under this arrangement. 

During the 2025 harvest KardiaNuts produced 89 tons of raw cashew nuts and will process about 140 tons, with plans to increase production to 220 tons and process 280 tons in 2026. 

In April 2024, KardiaNuts became the first cashew processing plant in Colombia to receive INVIMA certification which is a national verification that the company conforms to the highest standards of food sanitation. The startup’s operating plant received its organic certification this year and KardiaNuts can now sell organic cashews processed in Colombia. The startup is also working on ROC and Kosher certifications. 

The startup produced almost 20,000 seedlings for distribution to farmers through a local government welfare and sustainability program. Local officials in Puerto Carreño, Colombia have also asked KardiaNuts to provide technical assistance to 4,000 farmers who have trees but little to no technical understanding of how to harvest cashew. The partnership is working with leading Colombian agricultural organization Agrosavia to give farmers access to this knowledge. 

Additional knowledge mobilization activities have included workshops with farmers in Puerto Carreño and participating in the Cashew Congress in the region to share best practices for cashew crop cultivation using regenerative practices. 

KardiaNuts has worked with Alpina Foundation to put together a paper on the challenges and successful practices for cashew cultivation, including details on financing challenges and tips for replicating the startup’s success. 

As part of its commitment to regeneration, KardiaNuts collected soil samples from 40 distinct regional areas so it can develop customized recommendations for practicing climate-smart agriculture in those areas. 

KardiaNuts is currently testing pyrolysis equipment for biochar production to repurpose some of the crop waste generated from cashew cultivation and reduce emissions that are typically generated either from either burning waste or sending it to landfills. 

KardiaNuts has also been strengthening its pitch to investors by working on its Environmental, Social and Governance strategy and has met with impact investors. The startup is also formalizing its Board of Directors and its shareholder agreement, another key step for investment readiness. 

Pakka Foundation helps KardiaNuts maintain exporter relationships and ensures that the products meet high quality control and traceability standards. It will also help KardiaNuts develop an Environmental-Social-Governance strategy. 

During the partnership period, KardiaNuts aims to raise more than US $1 million in investment, create 20 additional jobs and regenerate 300 hectares of land. As of December 2024, the startup has raised $350,000 in investment and regenerated 840 hectares of land. 

This partnership comprises the following partners: KardiaNuts (lead business partner); Pakka Foundation (lead administrative partner); Fundación Alpina; Agrosavia; Cashew Value Chain; Marañones Delta; Portfolio Verde; and Generation Carbon.