[India]: Kerala - KSCDC to improve domestic sales

Sep. 14, 2019

During Onam, cashew corporation has record sales of Rs. 5.5 crore

The Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation (KSCDC) is all set to launch an aggressive marketing plan with multiple initiatives to take over the domestic market, a segment the export-oriented industry has been underrating for long.

The corporation will soon use fancy gift hampers and mobile units and employ more marketing executives to expand its clientele in Kerala and other States.

“The slashing of the export incentive considerably has brought down our profit margins. So this time we have focused on the domestic market, making available our products with a festival discount of 25%. The response has been tremendous with customers thronging our outlets and enquiries pouring in even on Thiruvonam day when we were closed. This Onam the KSCDC has a record sale of Rs. 5.5 crore, much higher than last Onam when the sale turnover was Rs. 85 lakh,” KSCDC chairman S.Jayamohan told The Hindu.

Mobile units

The corporation is currently planning to start mobile units that will carry the product to pre-announced points.

“The units will have all our products including baskets of assorted value-added products. Many value-added products like cashew soda and cashew soup have high demand and now we will make sure that they reach maximum customers. Also, various strategies to tap the festival markets in other States are under consideration,” he says.

From next month the KSCDC will deploy a team of sales executives to take orders and strengthen the distribution network. “This will also help us in getting proper customer feedback.”

In the Onam market ,KSCDC’s most sought-after product has been grade 150 jumbo nuts, sold for Rs. 1,335. Usually the domestic customers have to opt for grades 240, 320 and below with inferior size and shape.

“What the KSCDC and Capex offer is the highest quality organic nuts processed in traditional style and it tastes very different.

Earlier private parties used to buy huge quantities of product from government factories and sell it under their brands. But now the customers can directly buy from us and we also have provision for online shopping,” he says.

Apart from the premium product, the KSCDC has introduced 20, 50, 100, 250 gram packets for all segments of customers and the 30 factory outlets alone have registered a sales of Rs. 1.5 crore during Onam. The festival sales with 25% discount will continue till September 20.

Navamy Sudhish

Source: The Hindu

[China]: We are going nuts for nuts!

Sep. 14, 2019

What is both nutritious and delicious? It's nuts!

Did you think we wrote “nuts” one too many times? Well, get ready for more because this is all for our loyal lunch box brighteners and snacking companions- nuts!

Even if you are standing steadily in the camp of “not a fan”, we got news to break to you. Everyone’s beloved peanut butter and Nutella are both made from nuts! So go on and change your mind.

What’s in it for me?

Eating nuts on a regular basis can help to improve your health. Cashews, almonds, and peanuts can help lower your cholesterol (your heart will thank you).

They can aid digestion, prevent diabetes, strengthen your bones, help in weight loss, or even prevent hair loss. All of these benefits come with the nutrients and unsaturated fatty acids that nuts are full of.

As mentioned before, nuts are great to snack on. They aren’t expensive and you can easily take them with you wherever you go.

It contains minerals, magnesium, protein, manganese, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, folic acid, and many other essential nutrients.

It is also one of the best sources of vitamin E, with just one ounce providing 37% of the recommended daily intake.

But what about calories?

Afraid of calories? Not to worry, nuts are the good kind of fat (like avocado or high-quality olive oil) and by taking care of your nutrient intakes can lower hunger signals so you don’t reach for potato chips or other empty calories.

Where do I sign up?

With the variety of nuts and their products available, the only trouble we run into is choosing a good quality product. Here is where the online supermarket Kate&Kimi comes in.

They stock a selection of products with nuts, so whether you are cashew or almond lover- there will be something for you.

What’s on the menu?

Browsing their online store (oh yes, you can get it all delivered, no need to spend your time going to the store) you can find:

• High quality imported nuts and dried fruit
• Healthy bites
• Energy bars (including the newest Zen bar)
• Drinks: coconut yogurts made from with Real Coconut Meat
• Nut butter: cashew butter, peanut butter, almond butter (made by Blue Sky Kitchen and Mamie Gourmande)
• Breakfast oat cookies: Banana Walnut  (no processed sugars)

Feeling nutty yet? Head to their store and stock up on easily transportable nutrients. Winters are cold and long!

If you refer a friend, both you and they get a RMB50 credit to spend at the store!

Reporters

Source: Shanghaiist

[India]: Cash-strapped labour caught in cashew industry blues

Sep. 14, 2019

The Rs 3,000-crore Cashew industry in the coastal districts is facing a severe crisis with its labour force staring at a bleak future.

Mangaluru, hailed as the country’s cashew capital, has already begun witnessing seasonal employment and underemployment in cashew industries.

India’s economic slowdown, steep taxes and market saturation are posing a threat to the very survival of the cashew industry. In the last few months, as many as 900 cashew industries have closed down in Kerala and nearly 25 to 30 cashew industries in the coastal districts are on the verge of closure, sources in KCMA told DH. Former president of KCMA G Giridhar Prabhu said, that the Centre must redress the grievance and revive the industries.

and Customs to ensure smooth clearance of imported raw cashew nuts at New Mangalore Port (more than 250 consignments are imported every month) has drawn no response so far. “Customs authorities are not accepting the value of products declared by the importers and are arbitrarily xing the price for import of raw cashew nut in shells,” Uttara Kannada MP Anantkumar Hegde mentioned in a letter submitted to Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur recently. Information under Right to Information revealed that value of many B/Es (Bill of Entries on imported articles) were reassessed and increased in price by almost 70 to 80% by custom ofcials. “Sometimes B/E penalty (for delay in ling bills of entries) was higher than cargo value itself, resulting in dumping of cargo,” sources added. But such a practice is not followed in other ports like Thoothukudi, Mundra and Visakhapatnam port which handle ve times more volume than Mangalore port, informs Giridhar Prabhu.

Reporters

Source: Deccan Herald

[India]: Centuries-old Andhra Pradesh cashew industry in dire straits

Sep. 14, 2019

The factories in Vetapalem are in an immediate need of mechanisation

Workers grading cashew nut at a processing unit in Vetapalem, near Chirala town, in Prakasam district. 

The cashew industry, which has flourished for hundreds of years in Vetapalem village near Chirala town in Prakasam district, is beginning to show the first warning signs of a slump.

Cashew units are reportedly struggling to sustain operations in the wake of a shortage of raw material and a skilled workforce, with fingers being pointed at the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for the lack of manpower.

Only those plantations owned by the Forest Department, spread over 1,000 acres in and around Vetapalem, are now surviving, with plantations in the private sector reportedly making way for real estate ventures.

As a result, the processing units are heavily reliant upon import of raw nuts from countries like Nigeria, Tanzania, Ivory Coast and Ghana in order to avoid having to shut the units down.

“The fluctuating market price in the international market price is eating into our profits,” said Vetapalem Cashew Manufacturers’ Association president Atmakuru Sudhakar.

“Irrespective of the price prevailing in the international market, we keep importing raw nuts an year in advance. But the fall in local demand this year has hurt our margins,” he said.

Wish list

The Centre should considering withdrawing not just import duty on raw cashew nut but also impose hefty import duty on processed cashew from countries like Vietnam where processing is fully mechanised, industry stakeholders said.

“The industry needs support from the government for mechanising the process of shelling, drying and grading to compete with units in Southeast Asian countries,” said Andhra Pradesh Cashew Manufacturers Association president M. Phani.

“Subsidy on machinery and soft loans for the units are the need of the hour to overcome the present crisis,” said a nut processing unit owner P.V. Subba Rao. The unauthorised units located near plantations avoid payment of GST, which is adding to the woes of registered processing units, he said.

Reporters

Source: The Hindu

[Tanzania]: Tanzania annual cashew nut output stands at 50,000 tonnes: official

September 14, 2019

DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cashew nuts processing industries in Tanzania can process only 50,000 tonnes of the nuts annually, an official told parliament on Friday.

Stella Manyanya, the Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade, said Tanzania has a total of 34 cashew nut processing factories with an installed capacity of processing 73,010 tonnes annually but not all were operating.

She told the House in the capital Dodoma that there were 18 large and medium-sized factories but only 13 were operating.

Manyanya added that the country has 16 other small factories for processing cashew nuts but only nine of them were active.

"The government has convinced cashew nuts traders to build processing plants and so far three large-scale raw cashew traders have expressed willingness to do so," said the official.

Manyanya made the remarks when she answered a question asked by Abdallah Chikota, a Member of Parliament for Nanyamba constituency, who wanted the government to explain strategies it was taking to enhance local processing of the traditional cash crop.

Chikota appealed to the government to remove some taxes as a way of attracting investors in cashew nuts processing factories.

Tanzania's production of cashew nuts ranges from 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes annually and a large part of the crop is exported in raw form.

Reporters

Source: Xin Hua

[Kenya]: Ruto: State committed to attaining food security

September 12, 2019

He regretted that the Korakora project delayed for seven years due to contract-related issues.

Deputy President William Ruto talks to the public after inspecting Korakora gravity intake in Bura, Tana River County. Image: DPPS

Deputy President William Ruto has said the government is committed to making Kenya food stable.

He noted that irrigation would play a pivotal role in the new development that would also help Kenyans turn agriculture into a commercial venture.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the Sh1.7-billion Phase One Korakora Gravity Canal Project under the Bura Irrigation and Settlement Scheme Rehabilitation in Tana River County on Thursday, Ruto said the country cannot attain food security if it relies solely on rain-fed agriculture. 

“Our goal as government is to ensure that we increase acreage of land under irrigation in this area to 40,000 to boost food supply,” said Ruto. The Deputy President said the government was committed to eliminating hunger through food security, a pillar in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda.

He regretted that the Korakora project delayed for seven years due to contract-related issues, noting that the new contractor had been asked to complete the work in a year’s time.

“It is through increased investments in irrigation that the country can have ample food to feed itself and sell the surplus for income,” said Ruto. 

Leaders present were MPs Ali Wario (Bura), John Paul (Igembe South), Adan Ali (Mandera East), Tana River Woman Representative Rehema Hassan and the Chairman of the National Irrigation Board Joshua Toro. 

And in Bura town, the Deputy President distributed coconut and cashew nuts tree seedlings to farmers, where he called for diversification in farming.

This, he explained, would not only eliminate hunger but also rid the country of unemployment and poverty.

The Sh18.7-million project was designed to not only increase forest cover but also provide farmers with an alternative source of food and income.“The fruit tree-seedling initiative is a response to President Kenyatta's directive that requires all parastatals to set aside 10 per cent of their social responsibility budget towards tree planting in an effort to expand the forest cover from seven per cent to 10 per cent,” he added.

Ruto said the project would significantly contribute to the realisation of the Big Four agenda on food security and nutrition, and create jobs for youths as envisioned in the Vision 2030. 

Already, the National Irrigation Board has planted 415,300 cashew nuts seedlings and distributed some 20,600 seedlings to farmers. 

Besides this, the Board has also planted 105,400 coconut seedlings that would be distributed to farmers once they are ready. 

According to Toro, the produce value of one coconut tree a season is Sh3,000 while that of cashew nuts is Sh2,500.

Ruto said it was impressive that the Bura project had already developed 12,000 acres under irrigation but challenged its management to work towards attaining its 40,000 acres potential. 

Ali, who is also the chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries lauded the efforts by the Government to transform the lives of people in arid areas through modern agriculture.

The National Irrigation Board’s Managing Director Gitonga Mugambi said the scheme contributes to the economy of Tana River County by creating employment and business opportunities.

He said farmers earned an average of Sh103 million in the last three years from seed maize production.

During the same period, farmers earned about Sh200 million from horticultural crops such as watermelon, tomatoes and onions.

Wario urged people living in arid and semi-arid regions to make use of the irrigation opportunities presented to them by the government.

“The diversification to cashew nuts and coconuts assures the public of an income. This will address the unemployment challenge among youths in this region,” noted the Bura MP.

In Garsen, where the Deputy President addressed wananchi, Ms Hassan challenged women not to be left behind in making an income through agriculture.

“As we push for equality, let us also not be left behind this new development. Let us (women) plunge ourselves in his activity for income and create employment for ourselves,” she said.

DPPS

Source: The Star Kenya

[Mozambique]’s nut factories have made a cracking comeback But farmers are being squeezed

Sep. 12, 2019

Of cashews and cash

Mozambique’s nut factories have made a cracking comeback 

But farmers are being squeezed

Nampula - Industrialisation, up close, is organised monotony. For eight hours a day workers at a cashew factory in northern Mozambique scoop nuts from their oily shells. 

It is hard to talk above the thrum of machines. The pay is a modest 4,600 meticais ($76) a month. But it is a job. There are precious few good ones in Mozambique.

African countries are trying to climb the industrial ladder, and the processing of agricultural commodities seems a natural first step. 

By roasting coffee and spinning cotton they hope to boost export earnings and create jobs. 

For example, a fifth of the retail price of cashews goes to primary processors. By reviving its industry, Mozambique has captured some of that value. But its story also shows why industrial policy is hard to get right.

Reporters

Source: The Economist