The relationship between the cashew nut and the cashew apple is one of the most interesting things about cashew nut farming.
The cashew apple is a swollen fruit on the cashew tree that is often overlooked as not the main fruit. This cashew apple can be used to make juices, jams, and even fermented into alcoholic beverages.
The presence of the cashew apple and the cashew nut on one fruit is what makes it a multifaceted crop. Cashew nuts also grow differently from any other nuts.
The cashew seed grows outside the fruit instead of inside therefore making the cashew seed the nut. It is enclosed in a hard shell and attached to the outside of the cashew apple.
This uniqueness is what sets cashew nuts apart from any other nuts. Cashews are also easy to grow even though they take longer time as compared to other nuts and require very specific climate and soil conditions in order to thrive.
India Cashew Nuts
India has the best climate and soil when it comes to cashew nut farming. Its coastal regions; Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra have the ideal environmental conditions for growing cashew nuts.
This geographical advantage has made India one of the largest nut producers. Not to mention that the high demand for cashew nuts all over has played a big role in cashew production in India.
Cashews are used worldwide as a healthy snack and a useful ingredient in many cuisines. India took advantage of this rising demand by supplying high-quality nuts that caught most country’s attention. Ever since, India has been meeting these demands while maintaining the high-quality nuts that is known for hence staying on top of the list.
India also has good skilled labor that helps in producing large quantities of cashew nuts. The manual process of harvesting and processing cashew nuts requires expertise and talent and Indian workers have proved to be the best men for the job. They have honed their skills over the years and now ensure that the process is seamless.
Having plenty of skilled labor has also contributed greatly to India’s success in cashew nut exports.
Cashew Nuts Price in India
In 2022, India’s cashew nut exports were valued at just above 350 million US Dollars. This was a slight decrease over the previous year’s figure.
The sharpest climb was between 2016 and 2017 when the export value increased from 742 million US dollars to just above 900 million US dollars.
Here are the total values in the export of cashew nuts from India between 2013 and 2022.
Price of Cashew Nuts per kg in India
A kilogram of raw cashew nuts in Indian Rupee is between INR 621.38 and INR 679.37 per kilogram in the retail market. This equates to between $7.5 and $8.1 per kilogram.
The wholesale price for Indian cashew nuts is approximately US$ 5.25 to US$ 5.74 per kilogram.
The highest grade of cashew nuts, also known as jumbo (W180) cashews, cost between INR 750 and INR 800 per kilogram. These cashews are large, uniform in size, and contain a lot of kernels.
The W210 costs between INR 650 and INR 750 per kilogram because they’re medium and the most common, W240 costs between INR 400 and INR 500 per kilogram.
India Cashew Price
change with seasons. Prices rise during the off-season which is from May to September and fall during the peak season which is from October to April.
Cashew nut prices are also affected by market demand and supply. With the increase in demand, prices are likely to go up and go down when there is increased supply.
These demand fluctuations in currency exchange rates and import tariffs also affect the prices of cashew nuts both domestically and internationally. Despite all these, the prices are always steady in most seasons.