A Sweet Called Kaju Katli is Emerging as Diwali Sweet


Indians eat variety of sweets. Nowadays, there is a significant shift from traditional items to modern diversification. Kaju Katli, also called as Kaju Barfi has become the No.1 sweet in India.

Dry Fruits’ pack containing cashew is the most preferred gift pack during the Diwali festivals. Among sweet boxes, Kaju Katli is the King.

Food manufacturers use 60-75 percent broken grades to prepare this food. Nobody knows the exact quantity, used in the preparation of Kaju Katli and other Sweets in the Diwali season.

Cashew Kernel Has Become Indian Food with Nearly 40% of Global Consumption

Current Internal consumption in India is said to be 300000 Tons. If we add another 20000 tons on behalf of ‘Indians abroad’, the figure becomes 320000 tons. i.e, 38-42 percent of the world production!

Diwali season is a three month long season for the Indian cashew sector. According to some industry sources, around 50% of the Indian consumption is in the Diwali season.

Diwali Rush in Wholesale Cashew Kernel
North Indian buyers are showing interest in both spot and forward contracts in cashew kernel. Wholesale buyers and their agents are readily accepting two months supply contracts around ₹810+GST/Kilo/W320 in Goa and Mangalore.

Some buyers are even luring sellers through advance payments.

The most famous sweet called ‘Kaju Katli’ contains 60-75 percent piece grades. So the scarcity is more in broken items.

Raw Cashew Changes Direction on Sellers’ Resistance


According to market rumours, growers laugh at the price offered by local buyers in the Flores region of Indonesia. Even if the Indonesian harvest reaches one lakh ton, the major shipments will reach India only after September. Indian buyers never get bulk or large scale supply of the Indonesian origin Kernels for the Diwali season.

— Still, there is no news about the shipping and arrival dates of the contracted raw cashew between Guinea Bissau and Vietnam.

Cashew prices likely to spike this festival season


Cashew nuts may become dearer this festival season but the industry expects better sales as demand has started picking up. Facing a setback in exports, the cashew industry is pinning its hopes on domestic sales, which had remained sluggish so far this year.

“The festival season will start by the end of the month and the market is looking up,’’ said G Sathish Nair, managing partner of India Food Exports, which produces the Delinut brand of cashew. Last year, the Diwali sales of cashew nut had slumped owing to high imported raw nut prices and hiccups in the implementation of goods and services tax (GST). “Now all the hurdles are gone and GST has aided the sales as there is only a single tax,’’ said Nair.

Which is Better – Default from Kernel Exporters, Degrade/ Mixed Kernels or A Reasonable Price for All ?

If the per pound price of W320 is $5 and the exchange rate is ₹69.6/$, it becomes ₹348 in rupee terms. 1.e, ₹767/kilo. If we add 5% as export benefits, the final realization comes to ₹805/kilo/excluding GST.

Current Indian market is ₹800-810 kilo/excluding GST for the Indian, Benin and Tanzanian origin W320.

So the Indian local market for uniform size W320 works out to $5/lb and it may go above $5.5/lb during the Diwali boom period in September.

Cheap W320 means SSW, RW and DW mix kernels.

Soon India may Face Severe Raw Cashew Shortage as Guinea Bissau Sells Entire Stocks to Vietnam

According to reports, there is now no unsold raw cashew stock pile in Guinea Bissau. ENTIRE HARVEST SOLD OUT! IT IS A CONTRACT SUPPORTED BY THE AUTHORITIES OF VIETNAM AND THE GOVERNMENT OF GUINEA BISSAU.

Indian domestic market works out to $5.00/pound. However, the quality determines the price in this market. Who will supply the domestic quality raw cashew to India?

Africa is increasing its processing capacity.

Who is Responsible for the Ruin of Cashew Industry?

1. Over investment in the manufacturing sector is always bad. It results in abnormal rise in the raw material price and a crash in the finished product. Both India and Vietnam are facing the problem of over investment, over production and over supply.

2. Worst time for the cashew industry is usually January-end to March-end. Sometimes the slow consumption period continuous till mid April. Instead of cutting production, Vietnamese enterprises increased their exports during this period.

3. Some West African traders shipped undried raw nuts.

4. Some new buyers are not aware of the kernel quality wise price. They always try to bring the prices down, with out caring for the quality. How ever, they will only get the quality which is equal to their price. If the Indian domestic market works out to $5/Pound/W320, the quality matches the price.

India’s Internal Market for W320/Pound is $5+Amount Equal to All the Export Benefits !

Buyers’ first preference is the kernel which they can preserve even after Diwali. Therefore Goa, Maharashtra and Coastal Karnataka origin W320 has buyers around ₹810+GST/KILO as these kernels are strong, solid and stable. Next preference is for Benin kernels with ₹800+GST/KILO.

Even if Sellers get $5/LB for W320 in the export market, they will not get more than these rates, in spite of all the export benefits.