Cashew Nuts Market Report 2024 (Global Edition)

Market Dynamics of Cashew Nut Market

Key Drivers of the Cashew Nut Market

• The diverse range of cashew nuts application options across various industries has led to growth in the demand for cashew nuts

Continuous development and market competition led companies to work harder on the innovation part and the innovation factor in the cashew nuts market has brought a whole new list of variables that can be made from raw cashew nuts. Raw cashew nuts are now available as Whole, Roasted, Powder, Paste, and Splits. This extension of forms has not only availed consumers of multiple options but has also stretched the application of each of them creating a whole new set of demand lists for consumer and industrial usage. Cashew nuts in each form can be used in many sectors like dairy products, Bakery products, Snacks & Bars, Confectionaries, Cereals, Desserts, Beverages, and Cosmetic Products. Also, the market is offering different variables of cashew nuts for direct consumption like cocoa-dusted wrapped cashews, sea salt wrapped, toasted coconut roasted, peri-peri roasted, golden turmeric wrapped, cinnamon wrapped, etc. This wide range of variables and their application options have boosted the demand for cashew nuts in industries. For instance, the consumption scale of cashew nuts throughout Europe is increasing by nearly 5% annually.
Cashews are now produced and distributed as a milk product as well, named cashew milk which can be consumed as a substitute for the cow-milk or any other animal milk. It contains 60 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, and 7 grams of carbs. This product turned as a major attraction amongst vegan consumers as they cannot consume animal milk and seek other options to absorb nutrients and calcium. Also, cashew milk is said to hold various benefits which means it is a healthier and better option compared to animal milk.
Furthermore, Raw and roasted cashews are used in the production of cashew butter as well which is currently positioned as a natural alternative to peanut butter as peanut is subject to create allergy issues for some people. Cashew butter has been claimed to be best for Iron Deficiency.

In conclusion, the increasing varieties of cashew nuts are driving the market to grow as companies are launching wise varieties with several benefits that are making consumers try them. Recently, the application of cashew nuts has been done in households for direct consumption and also as a component in curries and food items.

• Rise in lactose intolerance cases, healthier dietary choices have influenced consumer preference toward the consumption of cashew milk

Growing health concerns after the pandemic have driven people to become more health-conscious and explore their eating patterns with healthy, vegan, and plant-based diets. Along with cashew nuts, cashew milk is also widely accepted across the world by people following a vegan diet as cashew milk is an alternate to animal milk. Furthermore, cashew milk was found to be healthier and nutrient-rich compared to other milk substitutes. It is creamy and sweet containing high levels of healthy fats, minerals, and Vitamins. It can be said that cashew milk is now much preferred by people as it has a long list of beneficiary factors like it is low in Calorie (compared to animal milk), Lactose-Free (a good alternative for people who are lactose intolerant), easier to digest compared to animal milk, rich in Antioxidants, better eye health, controlled blood sugar and is suggested for skin-care routine as well. Lactose intolerance is a clinical syndrome that is encountered upon consuming food items containing lactose, which is a sugar present in milk that breaks down to give glucose and galactose, and on fermentation, it gives especially lactic acid. Lactose is normally present in dairy products, milk products, and mammalian milk. In simple words, lactose intolerance is a condition where a person faces difficulty in digesting a sugar that is found in milk and other dairy products, called lactose. Because of this, people are unable to maintain the consumption of dairy products hence they are compelled to seek alternative options with similar healthy benefits. 
One of the medical reports shows that approximately 65 percent of the human population faces difficulty in digesting lactose after infancy. Lactose non-persistence is mostly observed in the people of East-Asian and also in the people of West African, Arab, Jewish, Greek, and Italian descent. On the other side, components in cashews like Anacardic acids have been shown to promote better blood sugar control and the existence of fewer carbohydrates in cashews makes it a lactose-free substance. Keeping this benefit in consideration, the production of cashew milk is promoted and widely consumed as well. This factor has driven the market not only towards the cashew nuts but also for the cashew milk market. For instance, due to the rising preference for lactose-free products, the demand, and production of cashew milk are increasing in the United States which is directly assisting the cashew milk market towards growth.

Thus, cashew products being lactose-free and a healthy substitute to other dairy products, are driving the consumption for the same all over the world.

(Source- https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/lactose-intolerance/)

Key Restraints of the Cashew Nut Market

• High Processing costs and Insufficient shelling capacity a major restraints for the cashew-producing units pushing them to export the nuts instead of processing them within the boundaries

The fact that cashew nuts, when picked from trees, aren’t directly consumable; rather, they are covered in a shell containing toxic oil urushiol, which is one of the restraining factors for the cashew industry as peeling the nuts from the shell is very labour-intensive work and can cause itching, blisters, and skin rashes. Because of this, companies need to give infected or affected workers long leaves to recover which ultimately started impacting the processing capacity and efficiency. These caused issues for countries producing cashew nuts at a huge scale hence to avoid the increased labour costs and processing costs, they prefer exporting raw cashew nuts to other countries to get them processed at cheaper rates. For instance, Africa grows most of the world’s raw cashews but carries out processing for only a fraction of them which is restraining them from growing globally as the demand for processed cashew nuts is increasing continuously. 
For instance, as per the survey conducted by the International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health in Kerala with a sample of 210 workers, 95.4% of workers were found suffering from one of the other morbidities.
(Source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371180639_Physical_and_mental_morbidity_pattern_among_female_cashew_workers_in_Kollam_district_Kerala)

Opportunities in Cashew Nut Market

• Automatic Cashew Nut Shelling Machines are an opportunity for the market growth of the cashew nuts market 

Cashew nut Shelling is considered the most labour-consuming activity in the cashew market. In India, the shells of cashew nuts are removed with the help of a hand-pedal-operated shell cutter after steaming and cooling the raw cashew nuts. Cashews shelled by hand can lead to health problems for labourers, like burnout and damage to workers' hands and fingers. This is because of the acidity of the nuts they shell all day long. To prevent these issues and protect workers’ health, many companies and countries have installed automated cashew peeling machines, which still require human intervention at every stage but can save their health. For instance, Africa, being one of the largest producers of cashew nuts, still prefers to export more than 85% of the crops to Asia for shelling at low prices. However, some of the units from Africa, like Kasana in Burkina Faso, are processing the nuts in Africa itself and have started adopting shelling machines. The burns are caused by continuous contact with the nuts in the shell, and to limit this contact, Kasana installed a sorting machine to grade the nuts.
On the contrary, Automatic ways of peeling nuts and other effective ways can reduce the health concerns for workers and can be an opportunity for the cashew nut industry. Furthermore, this machine can be useful for effective shell peeling and reduction of the labour cost ultimately supporting to earn more profits.
Also, fully automatic machines use advanced sensors and algorithms to position each nut precisely which can remove the shell of the nut without damaging the kernel. This can result in high efficiency and large volume processing at one time. Another benefit is that it requires minimal manual labor and can extract consistent quality of thecashew nuts with low damage rates. 
Thus, it is clear that the adoption of technologies for processing cashew nuts can play a crucial role in shaping the cashew nuts market, benefiting both the producers as well as the consumers.

How did COVID-19 Impact the Cashew Nuts Market?

Like every other industry in the world, the cashew nut market has also faced challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The biggest impact visible was on the supply and distribution chain as lockdowns were imposed due to the pandemic which directly broke the transportation process. For instance, Indian farmers were unable to sell their produced cashew nuts as traders, retailers, and processors could not reach out to them during the lockdown.
The pandemic has also impacted the production of cashew nuts as the scale of production fell steeply due to inflexible movement of labour and movement restrictions which led to a decrease in the quantum of imports as well as exports of the economy. The reduction in the export/import and inflexible supply facilities further impacted the production of cashew nuts due to the slow flow of cash causing further problems like decreased income of farmers, collectors, and service providers all along the chain. This further caused the prices for the cashew nuts to fall and quality to decline. 
•    For instance: As per an African Union study, about 20 million jobs were at risk in Africa as the continent’s economies were projected to shrink in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Also, foreign direct investment of around 15% could be affected.
•    For instance, Imports of raw cashew nuts from Cote d’Ivoire to Vietnam were down by 60% in the middle of 2019, Nigeria was down by 46%, and Ghana by 51%.
(Source: https://www.comcashew.org/imglib/downloads/2020/ComCashew%20Newsbulletin%20Edition%2017%20_English.pdf)

On the contrary, the pandemic has compelled people to focus more on healthy, nutritional, and quality food items, which has opened a ray of opportunity for the cashew industry to promote the product and its application with all the benefits to the body. Considering this, many industries have started using cashew nuts in the production of cookies, cereals, chocolates, as topping on ice-creams, etc.

Recent Developments

• AGF and Techoserve partnership: During the year 2023, the African Guarantee Fund and international non-profit Techoserve have signed a new partnership to boost investment in West Africa’s cashew nut sector. This partnership is a part of the Prosper Cashew project, a 5-year, USD 27 million program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with its Food for Progress program and implemented by Techoserve.
• Tolaro Global, a leading cashew processing company in Benin, was financed by the CFC (Common Fund for Commodities) for factory expansion. This project was executed to acquire equipment to increase the processing capacity of Tolaro to 20,000 MT by 2023. It was expected that this would increase the number of farmers delivering raw cashew nuts to Tolaro from 7,000 to 15,000 by 2023 and also the number of factory jobs from 650 to 1,500 over the same period.

With the help of the above study about the cashew Nuts Market, it can be concluded that the market for cashew Nuts worldwide is expected to develop significantly shortly. From the report, one can understand and infer the market dynamics, segmentations, status and trends, and key players in the market. It provides data regarding various topics such as market dimensions, prevailing trends, competitive landscape, and the outlook for prospective expansion. This allows the reader to understand and access reliable data about the market and industry.

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