Vishal S S (cbedit@imaws.org)
Kerala Based, Western India Cashew is planning to step into the HoReCa segment soon with their cashew paste. Western India Cashews are the third generation cashew nuts-processing business built on strong traditions of honesty, integrity, and values and relevance to society. They have gained consumers around the world with tasty and healthy nut-based food products they are today, India’s leading exporter of value-added nuts and nut products with long-term customers all over the world.
Demand trend
The demand is very good for cashews and the reason is that it’s in two or three directions in India. One is the snacking individuals buying cashews for direct functioning cashews. Nuts consumption went up during the pandemic because they are healthy, natural, and so on. This is easily available for afternoon snacks and cashews also went up along with the others not with the same extreme as walnuts and Almonds. Almonds and walnuts are considered to be healthier than cashews in India. In the US and Europe also the demand for cashews was high for their breakfast. On other aspects, cashews were used as an ingredient for ready-to-eat products like cereal bars, cakes, breakfast cereals, and chocolates. Cooking is another part where cashews are used more in India which also includes cashew paste. It gives richness to the foods and almost all takeaways foods have been growing because of the pandemic. In India, we can find people above the thirty age group buying cashews as a snack.
“It is an affordable luxury today for the cashew segment. The cost of the cashews has come to Rs 1000/kg which is almost equal to the meat items like mutton or chicken if bought in bulk. The cost of cashews might have gone up to three times more in the last 20 years. But most of the other food items like protein-rich foods have gone up to ten to fifteen percent more in their price. It is a basic middle-class product and it is a middle-class product”. Says Hari Krishnan Nair, President, Western India Cashew Company, Kollam.
Types of flavors
The Indian market is generally nuts in north India. People like to consume it dry roasted. Overseas, it is more roasted in oil. The cashews are basically high in fats. Cashews contain moisture which goes down to one percent when it is fried. The absorption of oil will be around one or two percent. In India, the general perception is that the dry roasted nut is considered and the way it is served in the same in most places. Dry roasted cashews are the most consumed segment of products in India. Raw cashews or natural cashews are very common in India and people go for that first then comes the roasted cashews and finally comes the ingredients with a chill, salt and so which is flavored. These flavors are in different styles in their color, taste, and smell.
“Overseas, there is a big demand for honey-flavored cashews, in India the market demand is so small and we export to other countries from here. Even we export some of the coconut flavored cashews which are having a huge demand abroad. Sweet flavored cashews are not used in more quantities in India. The main product segment in India would be salt flavored cashews”. Added Hari.
The uniqueness of Wenders cashews
Cashews are generally good for health and are less fat than almonds. Fresh cashews have the lowest amount of total fat. Cashews always give a richness more than most of the other nuts. It is a very high nutrient and balanced for human health. It is actually good for controlling the cholesterol level which was proved in the Madras Diabetic Research Institute. Cashews are high in vitamin K, which is good for recovery from illness and exercise. At Wenders, the cashews are run to a number of machine processes like heating steps which reduce microbial contamination.
“It goes very well with milk and ice cream and is also added as a part of the daily diet. Cashews are a healthy addition to the diet. At Wenders, the product we make is standard, there won’t be any variations but we are good in our packaging area. When people get our product, it will be fresh because products which are exported from here and are sitting on the shelf for a very long time”. added Hari
Machines Process
The cashews at Wenders go through the uniform heating process where it is made to heat at a particular temperature for some time to kill any microbes which are not visible. The temperature set is made uniform through the process. This is made without adding any color or ingredients to it. Continuous rosters are always made ready to do those processes at Wenders. Even salting is another process that is made equally in all segments which are calculated uniformly without any difference.
“We don’t add any artificial ingredients into it, we only take natural ingredients and less cooked and clean labeled is what we have”. Says Hari.
Ingredients
Ingredients are being bought at Wenders. It is collected from most of the good brands that have already taken up the consumer’s place in the market. Wenders collect everything in the same segment and mix everything. The ingredients that are available are given at the same rates by the supplier because they are bought from very highly qualified suppliers. “We are very particular in our ingredients as in certain situations, the exporting products can even be rejected if the product is containing any food additive. We are not in the business of going directly to the farmers and checking their qualities”. Added Hari.
HoReCa Segment and Expansion Plans
Wenders supply a major quantity of the products to India Chocolate manufacturers. The brand is planning its entry into the HoReCa segment with its cashew paste product. They supply to some companies like mainly concentrating into the ice-cream segments. The kitchen is the range where the brand is completely looking into. In retail, we have made cashew paste which is mainly concentrated on the HoReCa segment and focused on babies.
“We are planning to establish wider more of into supplying larger users in other places like Delhi Mumbai and so on, we started off in Kerala and understood the customer and we are the only retail present everywhere than any other brands. Our share of advertising on TV is more than any other brands in Kerala right now”. Concluded Hari.