Cashew Lot Traceability and Movement Register: A Practical Template from Supplier to Buyer

A bag of raw cashew nuts can pass through buying, storage, processing, packing and delivery before it reaches a customer. When the records are scattered across notebooks, it becomes difficult to answer three simple questions: Where did this lot come from? What happened to it? Where did it go?

This Mato Cashew resource offers a practical lot traceability and movement register for growers, buying stations, cooperatives and small processors. It is a recordkeeping tool, not a technical guide to cashew processing or a substitute for a food-safety system.

What the register helps you do

A usable register connects incoming raw cashew lots with later processing batches, finished product lots and customer deliveries. It helps a business check stock movements, investigate a complaint, locate potentially affected stock and demonstrate the history of a shipment to a buyer. It is especially helpful when several suppliers deliver on the same day or when raw nuts from different lots are combined for processing.

A practical starting point is to identify one step back (the direct supplier) and one step forward (the direct customer), while also preserving the links between internal processing stages. Traceability records support investigation and recall readiness; they do not prove that a lot is safe or meets a certification standard.

1. Give every incoming lot a unique code

Create a lot ID as soon as a delivery is received. For example, RCN-261019-001 can identify one raw cashew nut delivery received on 19 October 2026. This is only an illustrative internal coding format; a business can use another consistent system.

Record the supplier’s name or code, source location, date, product type, net weight in kilograms, storage location, and purchase or delivery document reference. Mark the same lot code on the bags or storage identification so the physical stock matches the record. If one delivery contains separately identifiable origins or quality groups, keep them separate where necessary rather than assigning a misleading common origin.

Use the existing Raw Cashew Nut Quality Inspection Checklist for moisture, defects and acceptance decisions. This register should reference the inspection record rather than repeat all its test fields.

2. Record each movement or change

Each time a lot is transferred, issued to production, processed, split, combined, packed, held, released or discarded, record the date, quantity, location, responsible person and document reference. Keep the input lot ID and output batch/lot ID linked.

If raw nut lots RCN-261019-001 and RCN-261019-002 are mixed to create PROC-261020-001, enter two input-to-output link rows. Both source lots must remain connected to the processing batch. If one processed batch is divided into several packed lots, record each output link separately.

Do not assume that input and output weights will match after shelling, drying or grading. Record the measurement stage and units, and explain significant differences, waste, by-products or adjustments in supporting production records.

3. Link finished lots to customer deliveries

Before dispatch, record the finished lot code, product description and grade, quantity shipped, dispatch date, customer name or code, destination, invoice or delivery-note number, and the person authorizing the release. A shipment can contain several finished lots; enter a separate line for each lot.

Keep the lot ID on the product or outer packaging as appropriate to the product and applicable labelling requirements. This makes it possible to trace a customer complaint back to the relevant processing and intake records.

4. Test whether the records work

Choose one delivered finished lot and try to trace it backward to the processing batch and every contributing incoming lot. Then select one incoming lot and trace it forward to all finished lots and customers that received products made from it.

If any link is missing, correct the recording process and document the correction. Keep a clear audit trail rather than silently replacing earlier entries. Define a retention period that meets applicable legal, buyer and operational needs; do not assume one period applies to every business or market.

Example: one lot, one processing batch, one shipment

The following figures are illustrative only, not a typical cashew recovery rate or a quality specification.

If a concern arises about this incoming lot, the business can use the linked IDs to locate remaining stock and identify recorded deliveries for further assessment. The register itself does not determine whether products must be recalled.

Download and use the editable register

Download the Mato Cashew Cashew Lot Traceability & Movement Register (Excel)

The bilingual workbook contains instructions, an incoming-lot log, an input/output processing-link log, a dispatch log and an example. Enter one row for each event or link; use the same lot codes consistently. Review completeness regularly and retain the invoices, inspection reports, weighment slips and delivery notes referred to in the register.

The workbook is an editable starting point. Adapt it to the scale of your operation, buyer specifications and applicable Cambodian and destination-market requirements. It does not replace quality inspection, food-safety controls, accounting, certification or legal advice.

References and further reading

• FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius, General Principles of Food Hygiene, CXC 1-1969, revised 2022, section 14.1: https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/codes-of-practice/en/
• FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius, Principles for Traceability/Product Tracing as a Tool within a Food Inspection and Certification System, CXG 60-2006: https://www.fao.org/input/download/standards/10603/CXG_060e.pdf
• GS1, Global Traceability Standard: https://www.gs1.org/standards/gs1-global-traceability-standard/current-standard

Mato Cashew Resources provide practical records, templates and business tools for Cambodia’s cashew value chain.