Taste and use

That's what these cashew nuts from Kerala are all about:

• Taste: Cashew nuts have a mild, slightly sweet taste. They are crunchy, but have a much softer consistency than other kernels or nuts.
  
• Quality features: Cashews from Kerala are considered to be the best in the world. The half kernels are ideal for baking and decorating dishes.
• Use: Throughout India, cashews from Kerala are served on special occasions: as a confectionery for the festival of lights Diwali, in a curry at a wedding or simply as a gift. As well as being used in curry pots, this crunchy kernel is also very suitable as an aperitif snack or as a valuable source of protein on a hike. You can find recipes with cashews on our blog, for example here.

Cultivation and ecology

This is how cashews are grown:

• Cultivation method: Cultivation in multi-stage agroforestry systems, without the use of pesticides. Cashews grow together with a fruit, the cashew apple, individually on the cashew tree. When the apple falls from the tree, the kernel must be quickly collected and dried to ensure good quality.
• Producers: The small farms of the members of the "Fair Trade Alliance Kerala" are on average just one hectare in size. The farmers grow a wide variety of products for export, for the local village markets, but also for themselves. The cashew kernels are now cracked exclusively by machine, meaning that an important source of health risks no longer exists. However, the kernels still have to be removed from their shells and this is done by hand. There is a risk that the natural poison in the shells could get on your hands and cause severe burns. Tomy Mathew is the founder of the "Fair Trade Alliance Kerala" cooperative. He has been successfully campaigning for the workers in the region and their conditions for years. For example, gloves or castor oil, which is applied to the hands, have been introduced as standards in the factories.
  By the way: Did you know that conventional cashews are usually shipped around the world twice? They grow mainly in West Africa, are brought to India or Vietnam to be cracked and then transported onwards by ship to Europe or Northern Europe. In the case of cashews from the "Fair Trade Alliance Kerala", the entire value creation takes place locally.

This is how the price is made up

The producers receive USD 1.85 per kilogram of unpeeled cashews. We pay USD 11 per kilogram of shelled cashew halves.

Cultivation & processing CHF 20.46

• Cultivation and harvesting: Fair Trade Alliance Kerala
• Processing and export: Padmesh Cashew Company, Elements Homestead Products

Transport & logistics CHF 6.77

• Export and logistics: Unilogistics
• Fees: Customs
• Quality assurance: SQTS laboratory
• Packaging: Zurich plant
• Shipping: Post

Procurement & distribution CHF 6.73

• Coordination, communication, online market: Crowd Container