What does it mean when a trader says a lot has an "outturn of 21"?

It means that if you took an 80kg standard bag of that raw cashew nut (RCN) lot and processed it through to finished white kernel, you would expect to recover roughly 21kg of kernel. Outturn 21 is shorthand for a Kernel Output Ratio (KOR) of 21 against the 80kg trading bag, and it is the single number buyers use to compare RCN lots against each other without needing to see a full processing report.

Is a higher outturn number always better?

In almost every case, yes — a higher KOR means more finished kernel recovered from the same weight of raw nut, which directly improves a processor's yield economics. The main exception is when a very high quoted outturn is not backed by consistent nut size and moisture, in which case the number on paper may not hold up once the lot is actually steamed and cut. Buyers typically weigh the quoted KOR alongside nut count per kg and moisture content, not in isolation.

Does KOR measure whole kernels only, or does it include broken pieces and splits?

That depends on the contract terms agreed between buyer and seller. Some procurement agreements calculate KOR against all finished white kernel regardless of grade, while others specify whole kernels only, since broken pieces and splits typically sell at a lower price per kg. Because this varies by buyer and market, it is worth confirming exactly which kernel grades count toward the quoted outturn figure before a shipment is priced.

Why is the 80kg bag used as the basis for KOR instead of 1kg or 100kg?

The 80kg jute or poly bag is the long-standing standard trading unit for raw cashew nuts across most origin and destination markets, so quoting outturn against it lets buyers and sellers compare lots using a number they already trade in day to day. A processor can still calculate recovery per kilogram at the cutting stage and then scale that figure up to the 80kg basis for the purposes of quoting or contracting.

How is KOR different from the outturn percentage some processors quote?

They describe the same underlying recovery, just expressed on different scales. An outturn percentage states kernel weight recovered as a share of RCN weight processed (for example, 25%), while KOR restates that same ratio against the 80kg bag (which in this example works out to a KOR of 20). Once you know one figure and the 80kg basis, you can convert to the other; the trade simply defaults to KOR because it maps directly onto the bag buyers and sellers already transact in.

Why did OUTTURN name the company after this metric instead of the machines themselves?

Because KOR is the number that actually determines whether a processing operation is profitable, not the machine's throughput or purchase price on their own. We design every cutting machine — blade geometry, cup timing, cutting pressure — around raising the KOR a factory achieves on real RCN, rather than around maximizing kg/hr in isolation. The name is a daily reminder, to us and to the processors we sell to, of which number actually matters at the end of a shift.

Cashew Outturn (KOR) Explained

Ask anyone who has bought or sold raw cashew nuts (RCN) and they will use the word before they explain it: outturn. It is the single figure that tells a buyer, in advance, roughly how much finished kernel a given lot of RCN will yield once it is steamed, cut, peeled, and graded — and it is the number that ultimately decides whether a shipment was priced fairly on either side of the deal.

What “Outturn” Actually Means

Outturn is the cashew industry’s own term for Kernel Output Ratio, or KOR: the weight of finished white kernel a processor recovers from a given weight of raw cashew nut. It is a yield measurement, not a quality grade in the way W240 or W320 describe kernel size — a lot can carry a strong outturn and still need grading afterward to sort the kernel into size classes. What outturn tells you upfront is simply how much kernel, in total, a batch of RCN is likely to give back once it has been fully processed.

The KOR Formula, and Why 80kg

RCN is traded almost everywhere in 80kg bags, so the industry expresses KOR against that same 80kg basis rather than against a plain percentage. The formula is straightforward:

KOR = (finished white kernel grams per kg of RCN ÷ 1000) × 80

In practice, a processor tracks how many grams of finished kernel they recover per kilogram of RCN run through their line, divides by 1000 to convert that into a per-kg fraction, then multiplies by 80 to express it against the standard trading bag. The result is a single number — say, 20 or 22 — that states, in effect, “an 80kg bag of this RCN should yield roughly this many kilograms of kernel.”

How Buyers and Traders Quote It

When a trader describes a lot as having “an outturn of 21,” they mean the KOR calculation above comes out to 21 — roughly 21kg of finished kernel expected per 80kg bag of that RCN. This is why outturn moves markets the way a grade or a moisture reading does: two lots priced at the same per-kg RCN cost can have very different real costs per kg of finished kernel if their outturns differ, because the buyer is ultimately paying for the kernel that comes out the other end, not the raw nut going in.

KOR in RCN Contracts and Procurement

Procurement teams use quoted KOR to compare competing RCN offers on equal footing, to set the price they are willing to pay per bag, and often to structure the contract itself — some agreements price RCN with an outturn guarantee, adjusting final payment up or down if the actual processed yield comes in above or below the figure quoted at purchase. Because the number carries contractual weight, buyers frequently want to verify it against their own processing results rather than accept a seller’s quoted figure at face value, particularly for large or higher-value shipments.

Why We Named Our Company OUTTURN

We chose the name deliberately. A cashew cutting machine can be marketed on throughput, price, or head count, but none of those numbers tell a processor whether the business is actually profitable — only KOR does that, because it is the figure that determines how much sellable kernel comes out of every bag of RCN purchased. Every machine we build is engineered around raising that number: blade geometry, cutting pressure, and cup timing are all tuned to reduce breakage and lift the KOR a factory achieves on real production runs, not just to post a faster kg/hr figure on a spec sheet.

Calculating Your Own KOR

The formula above is simple enough to run by hand from a single processing batch, but checking it consistently across shifts, operators, or RCN lots is easier with a dedicated tool. Our True Cashew KOR Calculator applies this same 80kg-bag formula so you can enter your own recovered kernel weight and RCN input and get a KOR figure to compare against what a supplier or buyer is quoting you.