The Hindu Business Line : The ‘dukandar’ still holds sway

Notwithstanding the corporate retail chains or the exclusive cashew outlets, the traditional dukandar and dry fruit shops and the manufacturers of sweets and confectionery still contribute a significant share to the growth of the domestic cashew sector.

Retailing of cashew in Mangalore by traditional methods can be traced back to the Seventies. During 1978, when Giridhar Prabhu of Phalguni Cashew Centre began retailing cashew at his factory in Bunder, a market area of the city, some other units were also selling cashew at their factory gates. But a majority of cashew factories then were focusing entirely on processing of cashews and selling them in bulk.

However, Prabhu begs to differ with the view that domestic consumption has increased after retail chains entered. Prabhu, who sells cashew under the brand name ‘Achal’, thinks the retail chains have been participants in the growth along with other traditional segments. Quoting from his experience, he says ‘Achal’ has some lifetime customers. Whenever these customers from other regions visit Mangalore they make it a point to buy cashew from his store.

According to him, today major retail chains value would account for less than 5 per cent of the total sales. Organised retail would make another 5 per cent. He defines organised retail as factory-owned outlets and value chains which existed prior to the corporate retail chains. Prabhu sells cashew through wholesale traders and the traditional dukandar who services respective markets, some of whom sell cashew exclusively as ‘dry fruit’ in their shops.

K. Prakash Rao says the bonus to the cashew kernel producers is the increase in demand from sweet-makers and the confectionery industry. It is estimated that this industry is growing at over 15 per cent per annum. And this segment mainly consumes the ‘broken’ varieties of cashew.

“It is this advantage that India has over the rest of the cashew producing countries that the average realisation of the kernel production is higher on account of higher value of the ‘brokens’, he says.

During the peak festival months, the value of broken kernels is almost on par with whole kernels. Then, the broken variety sells at Rs 225 a kg in the international market as against Rs 305 a kg in the domestic market. This has pushed up value for manufacturers and improved the overall realisation from processing. The domestic market has created better manufacturing margins for the cashew producers, adds Rao.