Kawanasi Achieves Organic Certification for Kenari Nuts
Originally published: 2019 · Last updated: August 2026
In 2019, Kawanasi achieved organic certification for Kenari Nuts, marking an important step in the development of the Indonesian forest nut for international markets.
The certification came after Kenari's first international exposure at SIAL Paris in 2018, where interest in organic products was one of the recurring themes in conversations with international food professionals.
For Kawanasi, organic certification was more than a market label. It became an important part of understanding how a forest-origin food could be developed into a consistent, traceable product for international consumers and buyers.
From Forest Origin to Certified Organic Product
Kenari is a forest-origin food from Eastern Indonesia. Unlike many familiar commercial nuts that are cultivated through established agricultural systems, Kenari comes from trees that occur naturally in the region's forests.
Developing a product from this type of resource requires more than simply identifying a market opportunity.
It requires understanding where the raw material comes from, how it is collected, how it is handled after harvest, and how the product can maintain its integrity throughout the supply chain.
Organic certification provided an important framework for this work.
It brought greater attention to production practices, traceability and control across the supply chain, while also making Kenari more relevant to the growing international organic food market.
Why Organic Certification Mattered
For international buyers, organic certification provides an independently governed framework for verifying that products meet defined organic requirements.
For Kenari, this was particularly relevant because its identity is closely connected to its natural forest origin.
The certification process helped Kawanasi better understand the systems needed to develop Kenari as a food product while maintaining a clear connection to its origin.
This included a growing focus on:
traceability;
controlled handling and processing;
documentation;
quality consistency;
responsible sourcing; and
meeting requirements for international markets.
These systems would become increasingly important as Kawanasi expanded beyond the Indonesian market.
Building on Kenari's Forest Origin
The organic certification also contributed to a broader understanding of the potential of forest-origin foods.
Many food products begin with conventional agricultural production. Kenari offers a different model: creating economic value around a naturally occurring forest resource while working with the communities connected to that resource.
Kawanasi's current approach describes Kenari as being harvested by local communities from naturally occurring trees in Eastern Indonesia, with value creation extending from the forest through processing, quality management and market development.
This became an important part of the way Kawanasi approached Kenari's development.
The objective was not simply to sell a rare nut.
It was to build a reliable food value chain around an Indonesian forest product.
From Certification to International Markets
Organic certification also strengthened the foundation for Kawanasi's next stage of international development.
The company's current timeline identifies 2019 as the year of EU and USDA Organic certification and export development.
The following year, Kenari would be introduced at BIOFACH Nuremberg, a major international exhibition focused on organic food.
At the same time, Kawanasi continued working through the requirements associated with bringing Kenari into the European market.
This would eventually lead to the EU Novel Food authorization achieved in 2023, alongside growing international recognition for Kenari-based products.
A Foundation for What Came Next
Organic certification was therefore not the end of Kenari's development journey.
It was a foundation.
The years that followed would see Kenari presented at major international food and organic exhibitions, including BIOFACH, SIAL Paris, Expo West and Anuga.
East Forest would subsequently develop Kenari into a range of consumer products, while the ingredient itself continued through the regulatory and market-development process required for international expansion.
Today, organic certification remains part of the quality foundation behind Kawanasi's Kenari products, alongside traceability, testing and other quality systems.
From Organic Certification to the Global Organic Market
The 2019 certification marked an important transition:
From introducing Kenari to international audiences → to building the systems needed to develop it for international markets.
It was an early step in a longer journey that would eventually take Kenari from the forests of Eastern Indonesia to consumers and food businesses in markets around the world.