Cashews may be expensive to buy but India has overtaken the United States in its consumption, says the apex body of the country's cashew exporters.
Top officials of the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) say it is wrong to describe cashew as 'poor man's crop, rich man's food' in the post liberalisation scenario.
"India is the largest consumer of cashew in the world today. Once America was number one in consumption of cashew," says R K Bhoodes, Convener-Budget and Finance Committee of the CEPCI.
According to the official, the cashew produced in the country plus more than half of what is imported, is consumed domestically.
It is possible because of the higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP), he said.
"Ten years back, price of one kg cashew was something around Rs 400 and Rs 500. Now it is around Rs 800. Our standard of living has gone up because of our increased wages... We can afford to have rich man's food in our diet," says Bhoodes.
Noting that consumption of cashew in the country has been growing especially post liberalisation, CEPCI officials say it had clocked a healthy compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 8.6 per cent.
Bhoodes says India is number one processor, producer and consumer of cashew. But Vietnam tops in the export of cashew.
"Our annual nut production is around 8.5 lakh tonnes. We import around the same quantity. We process around 17 lakh tonnes of raw cashew.
"After processing, the yield is 23 per cent, which is 3.75 lakh tonnes processed nuts, out of which we export 1.25 lakh tonnes. Rest is for domestic consumption," he says.
The consumption is mostly in north India where "cashew is part of the Mediterranean diet".
Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Lucknow are the major cashew consuming pockets in the country, he said.
The official also announced that CEPCI will hold its Diamond Jubilee Meet here later this week.
