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. 

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 review and restructure the existing crop management plans based on regenerative practices. Early results have been promising with cashew trees showing a yield increase of over 370% in 2025 when compared to 2022 yields. KardiaNuts and Agrosavia are collaborating to produce and disseminate a knowledge product on nutrition and preventative control plans as part of ongoing efforts to systematically build the capacity of farmers in regenerative practices. 

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

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 now Kosher certified and has submitted an application for Regenerative Organic Certification. 

In early 2025, KardiaNuts tested pyrolysis equipment for biochar production to repurpose the crop waste generated from cashew cultivation and reduce emissions that are typically generated from either burning waste or sending it to landfills. During this phase more than 800 pounds of biochar was produced and will be used in field trials. 

In April 2025, KardiaNuts attended the P4G Vietnam Summit where it connected with other P4G startups SaBio and BATx whose solutions for soil management and circular economy respectively could be useful for projects in Puerto Carreño. 

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 formalizing its Board of Directors and shareholder agreement, and preparing for a professional valuation of the KardiaNuts farms, key steps for investment readiness. 

The partnership is also actively collaborating with local and national governments to improve the enabling environment for the cashew industry. As part of this effort, it presented results and recommendations at the Cashew Technical Committee, forum for collaboration among other producers and sector stakeholders. 

Key Lessons Learned: 

• Implementing a precision agriculture approach over a standard fertilization plan is more effective in improving yields. 
• Planting and managing cover crops is important for reducing erosion and boosting carbon sequestration. 
• Standardizing and validating the quality of biofertilizers improves crop performance. 
• Training the team in new methodologies improves internal performance and enables better knowledge transfer in the region. 
• Having clear metrics, financial information and well-prepared investment materials is necessary for attracting the interest and confidence of investors. 

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. In the last two years, 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.