Cambodia is expected to gain a larger share of the Japanese cashew nut market after Mirarth Holdings Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with five partners to promote the import and distribution of processed Cambodian cashew nuts to Japan. Cambodian cashews are currently being rolled out at Family Mart, a popular Japanese convenience store chain with 16,320 locations nationwide. This is the result of a collaboration between the Ministry of Commerce, Mirarth and the Itochu Corporation. Commerce minister Cham Nimul met with Taniguchi Kentaro, president and CEO of Mirarth Energy Solutions Inc., along with a delegation of Mirarth Holdings Inc., and representatives of Itochu in Osaka, Japan, on September 3. Nimul shared her appreciation for Mirarth Holdings and its partner companies for their efforts to promote the export of Cambodian cashews. She emphasised the importance of the strong relationship between the commerce ministry and the Mirarth leadership, as well as other stakeholders. “Congratulated the signing of the Letter of Intent between the Ministry of Commerce and Mirarth Holdings Inc., as well as the MoUs between Mirarth Holdings Inc. and five partner companies to promote the import and distribution of Cambodian cashew nuts into Japan, on the occasion of Cambodia National Day at Expo 2025 Osaka, Japan on July 5,” she said. She encouraged the company to expand processing capacity beyond cashew nuts, especially Cambodian Geographical Indication (GI) products. Taniguchi Kentaro noted that Mirarth Energy Solutions Inc. is currently working closely with the commerce ministry’s Export Promotion Working Group, and that the Kingdom’s cashews are being rolled out across the 16,320 Family Mart locations across Japan. Uon Silot, president of the Cashew nuts Association of Cambodia (CAC), told The Post on September 4 that, based on previous studies, Japan’s annual demand for processed cashew nuts is around 10,000 tonnes (equivalent to 40,000 tonens of raw nuts), most of which are imported from India and Vietnam. He described the presence of Cambodian nuts in international markets as a positive development. “This is a positive sign for Cambodia’s cashew nut export market. Even though the quality and taste of Cambodian cashew nuts have already been internationally recognised, domestic processing capacity remains limited,” he said. He emphasised that once the Agro-Industrial Cashew Park project in Kampong Thom province is completed, exports of processed cashew nuts will increase significantly. Currently, most of Cambodia's cashew nut exports are sent abroad raw. “We’ve seen a decline in processed cashew exports, but we hope it will rise again once the Agro-Industrial Cashew Park comes online in the near future,” he added. According to Silot, as of early 2025, Cambodia had 52 cashew processing enterprises, including six medium-sized factories with a production capacity of 7,000 to 140,000 tonnes per year. The remaining 48 are small family-run businesses that do not operate year-round. According to the “Cashew Plantation Areas in Cambodia 2024” report, the Kingdom had a total of 580,117 hectares of cashew cultivation, with an estimated production potential of 816,459 tonnes per year. With these figures, Cambodia ranks among the top three cashew-producing countries in the world.In 2024, Cambodia exported 793,453 tonnes of raw nuts to Vietnam, valued at US$1.15 billion, according to CAC data.