Market Trends of India Cashew Industry
Increasing Demand for Cashew Snacks
- Edible cashews have been used as a snack for many years in the country, and they have also been used as one of the main ingredients in sweets and cooking, especially in Asian cuisine. Cashews are also increasingly used as a constituent in muesli, energy bars, cookies, chocolate, and ice creams. Cashews are high in nutrients, such as copper, which improve bone health in humans, as one ounce of cashew contains 622 micrograms of copper.
- Also, cashews are relatively high in fiber compared with peanuts, which helps gain a healthy weight by improving digestive function. The nutritional benefits also extend to a high iron and magnesium content in cashews compared to peanuts, which enhance the enzymatic reactions in the body. Such high-value nutrition has prompted snack manufacturers in India to launch several cashew-based snacks to meet the demand, such as ready-to-drink cashew milk, which acts as a lactose-free milk substitute.
- Cashews are also high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and are a good source of protein. This rich fat content of cashews makes them a seamless substitute for heavy cream, as it is increasingly used in various sweet or savory dishes as a healthy vegan alternative to heavy whipping cream in the country.
- According to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, the risk of coronary heart disease can be reduced by 37% in people who consume nuts more than four times a week. With such results, it is expected that more cashews may be used to manufacture snack bars, which are a healthy alternative to high-calorie chocolate bars.
- Value addition and consumption of cashews lead to new initiatives and developments for most companies. They are moving toward developing projects for cashew pulp and other cashew-derived products. For instance, in 2023, Sahyadri Farms set up the biggest cashew processing plant at Nashik with the capacity of processing 100 tonnes of cashew per day; while processing cashew, cashew oil is also produced from the shells, improving the economic value of production in this plant.
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Increase in Production Capacities
- India is the second-largest producer of cashews in the world. Indian cashew is known worldwide for its excellent quality. Besides the vast scale of cashew production, India is also known for pioneering cashew processing and exporting cashew kernels globally. The cashew processing industry was concentrated in Goa, Vettapalam (Andhra Pradesh), Kollam (Kerala), and Mangalore (Karnataka). However, it is currently spread across many states in India. Over the years, India has emerged as the global processing hub for the cashew industry.
- Goa has about 30-odd units divided into large and small production units of cashews. While there are some cashew exporters, like Ajanta Industries and Zantye Cashew, most of the established processing units prefer to cater to the domestic market. Thus, the production of raw cashews is increasing with rising processing units.
- To keep up with the rise in the domestic and export demands for cashews (the country is the largest cashew consumer worldwide and second-largest exporter of cashew kernels), Indian companies have recently invested in purchasing large plantations as financing and management of processing facilities in Africa. For instance, in 2022, Indian food company Beta Group, owner of the Nut King brand, invested USD 100 million in cashew nut processing in Guinea-Bissau.
