More than a nut. A story rooted in the forest.
Explore the deeper meaning behind Kenari — its connection to Indonesia's forests, communities, biodiversity, food culture and the opportunity to create lasting value from a remarkable natural resource.
Explore our Kenari Knowledge and News & Tips updates as well.
#SignifiKenari is Kawanasi's perspective on why Kenari matters — to people, forests, food and the future.
Kenari is more than an uncommon Indonesian nut. It is a forest resource with nutritional value, cultural history and the potential to create greater value for the communities and landscapes connected to it.
#SignifiKenari explores the stories, ideas and work behind developing Kenari as a distinctive Indonesian food for the world.
Kenari matters because it brings together food, nutrition, people and forest.
It is a naturally nutritious forest nut that has long been known and enjoyed by communities in Eastern Indonesia. By creating greater value around Kenari, we can help connect an underutilized natural resource with new opportunities for local communities and international food markets.
Kenari has traditionally been known and harvested by communities where the trees naturally grow.
Developing a stronger market for Kenari can create greater economic value from the nut and support opportunities for the people involved in its harvesting, handling and development.
For Kawanasi, the goal is not simply to sell more nuts, but to help build a value chain in which the origin of Kenari remains part of its value.
Kenari is a forest nut. Its trees occur naturally in the forests of Eastern Indonesia, making the nut part of a wider forest ecosystem rather than simply an agricultural commodity.
Creating economic value from a forest food can provide another way of appreciating and valuing the resources that forests provide, alongside the communities who depend on them.
Kenari combines a distinctive creamy and buttery character with a naturally rich nutritional profile, including fats, protein, amino acids and minerals such as magnesium.
Its relatively limited recognition outside its traditional regions also makes it an interesting opportunity: a food that is already known locally but still has much of its story and potential to be discovered by the wider world.
Kawanasi wants to help bring Kenari from the forests of Indonesia to the world while creating greater value at its origin.
That means developing the nut responsibly across its value chain — from forest and community, through post-harvest handling and quality, to food products and international markets.
#SignifiKenari is the story of that journey and why it matters.
Food diversity is part of the bigger story behind Kenari.
Indonesia is one of the world's most biodiverse countries and is home to a rich diversity of local food resources and food traditions. Yet many of these foods remain relatively unknown outside their regions of origin.
Kenari is one example.
For us, developing Kenari is not only about creating a new product. It is also about creating greater awareness of an under-discovered food, its origin, its nutritional value, its cultural context and its possibilities for the future.
Kenari begins as a forest-origin food in Eastern Indonesia. Turning that resource into a trusted international food requires much more than harvesting the nut, it requires building value across sourcing, processing, quality, product development and markets.
Read MoreKenari is more than a little-known Indonesian nut. It connects food, nutrition, forests, people and the opportunity to bring an underutilized food resource from Eastern Indonesia to a wider world.
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