In all, 75 bottles of ready-to-serve (RTS) cashew apple juice manufactured by Canute Aranha of Mulky were sold out within three hours at the three-day cashew apple, mango and jackfruit mela which began at the Kadri Park here on Friday.
“The RTS bottles of cashew apple juice can be stored in room temperature for about a month,” Mr. Aranha, who took to manufacturing value-added products of cashew apple since 2010, told The Hindu.
Ashwath Hebbar of Perdoor displaying cashew apple halwa produced by his Perdoor Samagra Farm at the mela. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
“I began large-scale production of products under the brand ‘Ken’s Fresh Cashew Apple Products’ in 2016,” he stated, noting that the demand for cashew apple juice has significantly increased since last year.
A visitor tasting cashew apple juice at the mela. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
In addition to juice, Mr. Aranha has also made wine from cashew apple. “It requires six months to prepare the wine,” he said.
He also produces other value-added products from cashew apples, such as jam and dried cashew fruit.
Deepthi of Puttur displaying ksheera and payasa made using cashew apple at the mela. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
Ashwath Hebbar of Perdoor Samagra Farm said he has been marketing cashew apple halwa for the past three months. “Yellow fruit (cashew apple) is good for making halwa as it is sweeter and has less tannin content,” Mr. Hebbar said, adding that yellow cashew apples have more pulp content. He mentioned that the Vengurla-7 variety of cashew is more suitable for making halwa.
“People hesitate to buy cashew apple halwa because, unlike mango and jackfruit halwas, it lacks a dominant flavour. This leads to doubts about the product,” Mr. Hebbar said, based on his marketing experience.
Canute Aranha of Mulky displaying his cashew wine and ready-to-serve cashew apple juice. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
As people don’t consume cashew apple like mango and jackfruit, it will take some time for consumers to get accustomed to cashew apple halwa, he said.
Deepthi of Puttur prepared ksheera and payasa using cashew apple, using the red fruit for both value‑added products. “I fried the cashew apple in ghee to remove the tannin content before preparing ksheera,” she said.
Suhas Marike of Puttur made cashew‑apple ice cream in addition to halwa and juice. “Another special product of mine is cashew‑apple ice cream blended with bird’s eye chilli,” he said.
The ingredients of the halwa include cashew apple, ghee, sugar, and a small quantity of cashew nuts, he added.