Prunes Processing
| The Ingredients | Amount |
| Cashew pulp | 1 kg |
| Brown sugar | 5 cups |
| Caramel (brown liquid) | 5 cups |
| Cinnamon powder | ½ teaspoon |
| Star of anise | 1 piece |
| Salt | ½ teaspoon |
| Vinegar | ½ liter |
| Water | ½ liter |
| Citric acid | 1/8 teaspoon |
| Potassium | 1/8 |
| Sorbate (optional) |
| Weighing scale Measuring spoon Measuring cup Stainless casserole/vat Stainless ladle |
Strainer/ colander Stove Drying tray Plastic cover |
- Cook the cashew pulp in 50% vinegar solution (mix one part vinegar to one part water) for 10 to 15 minutes upon boiling.
- Prepare 25% syrup (mix 2 ½ cups sugar to 2 ½ cups caramel).
- Cook the pulp in 25% syrup together with powder, salt, star of anise, citric acid and potassium sorbate for 10 to 15 minutes upon boiling.
- Soak the cashew pulp for 1 to 2 days in the syrup.
- Adjust the sugar concentration to 50% by adding the remaining 2 ½ cups sugar.
- Cook the mixture for another 10 to 15 minutes upon boiling.
- Soak the pulp for another 1 to 2 days.
- Drain the pulp.
- Arrange the pulp on trays.
- Sun dry for 1 to 2 days.
- Cool dried prunes at room temperature.
- Pack in plastic bag or plastic container (cellophane # 10)
Cashew business can really be fun! You can actually do this at home! It would be best if your parents could lend you some starting amount though. Just promise to pay them back as soon as you sell your products! Let’s start with a twenty-five 200g container of candied fruits. With Cashew prunes, just use the pulp you used for making your cashew wine. Now, you don’t have to spend for another kilograms of cashew apples, right? You need P620.00 for your cashew prune syrup. But don’t make that heavy sigh yet! This six-hundred something worth of cashew prune syrup can be used four times! So, if you divide the amount needed to make the syrup into four, this should give you a hundred-fifty five pesos worth of prune syrup for each production. You also need P187.50 for the additional materials needed to cook and pack the candied products. That will give you a total material cost of P367.50. Let’s say you’ll need an extra hand to do this, a hundred pesos should not be that bad say, for a brother or a sister who needs additional allowance for his/her school projects. Adding these all up, you need a total production cost of P467.50.
But, wait! Here’s the best part. If you sell the prunes for only P28.00 per 200g container, you’ll get P700.00 for all 25 cashew prunes products. Take out the P467.50 to pay for your labor cost and partly pay your parents for the money you borrowed to start your small business. You’ve just earned P232.50. Now, that should get you going!
See table below for more details.
Material Cost for Cashew Prunes Syrup| Quantity | Unit | Item Description | Unit Cost | Total Amount |
| 12 | kg | Cashew pulp | ||
| 6 | kg | Brown sugar | 30.00 | 180.00 |
| 10 | gram | Star of anise | 6.00 | 6.00 |
| 15 | bottle | Caramel (brown liquid) | 20.00 | 300.00 |
| 10 | gram | Citric acid | 2.00 | 2.00 |
| 10 | gram | Cinnamon powder | 5.00 | 5.00 |
| 10 | bottle | Vinegar | 10.00 | 100.00 |
| 3.5 | liter | Purified water | 15.00 | |
| 55 | gram | Potassium | 200.00/kg | 11.00 |
| TOTAL | 620.00* |
Additional Material Cost
| Quantity | Unit | Item Description | Unit Cost | Total Amount |
| 25 | pc | CP#10 container | 5.00 | 125.00 |
| 1/2 | kg | LPG | 25.00 | 25.00 |
| 25 | pc | Plastic seak | 0.50 | 12.50 |
| 25 | pc | Product Label | 1.00 | 25.00 |
| TOTAL | 187.50 |
| Material cost (155.00 + 187.50) | 367.50 |
| Labor cost | 100.00 |
| TOTAL PRODUCTION COST | 467.50 |
| Total production yield | 25 250g container |
| Production cost per bottle | 18.70 |
| Selling price per container (50% markup) | 28.00 |
| GROSS SALE | 700.00 |
| GROSS PROFIT | 232.50 |
| RETURN OF INVESTMENT | 49.73% |