<p></p><p>The Kerala State Cashew Workers Apex Industrial Co-operative Society Ltd (CAPEX), the only full-scale cashew processing unit in the co-operative sector, is eyeing the global market to put the company on the profit track. The company, which has been exporting the products to wholesalers, who in turn realise the full value of the products, aims to launch its own brand of value-added products of cashew and nuts, and tap premium markets, including US, Japan, UK and Gulf countries like UAE and Saudi Arabia, to promote its own products.</p> <p>Admitting the fact that, establishing a new brand in the overseas market is a huge challenge, CAPEX managing director R Jayachandran said brand building would be done by taking part in international exhibitions and through advertisements and other promotional activities. The company now requires a laboratory and licence for exporting its branded products. </p><p>According to Capex chairman Philip K Thomas, the company had already begun the process to modernise its factories with a government grant. The Industries Department had earlier provided an amount of Rs 23 crore to CAPEX for the implementation of ‘Modernisation of Cashew Sector including Brand Building’, in 2012-13. “We hope that the export quantity of cashew can be increased by modernising our factories. It will also help us explore the global market,” he said. </p><p>In the 2013-14 fiscal, the company posted a turnover of Rs 63.18 crore. At a time when the cashew sector is facing a huge challenge owing to the high prices of raw cashew and a slump in demand, which led to closure of many factories, Philip K Thomas said CAPEX is targeting 260 working days this year. “This year, we have completed 145 working days in the first seven months itself,” said the chairman. The total number of working days during 2011, 2012 and 2013 were 216, 274 and 211, respectively.The company management said that during 2011-12 and 2012- 13, they had attained a turnover of close to Rs 68 crore each. Though the company is incurring loss at present, the management said apart from the spending funds for modernisation and brandbuilding, the priority this year would be to make it break even. It is working at sub-optimal capacity of 500 bags of cashew per day.“We will improve the capacity to 1,000 bags per day once we complete the mechanisation process. The long-term target is to process 1,500 bags per day,” said Jayachandran. CAPEX, established in 1984, under the Industrial Department, has over 10 factories functioning under it. The $800-million cashew export industry which registered a negative growth of 6 per cent in the April-June quarter is unlikely to recover in the coming quarters, despite the optimism by the exporters. </p><p>The sector has been affected by the double whammy of global recession, which resulted in the lesser demand for the exported kernels, and the spike in prices for imported raw cashew nuts. India imports close to 7.7 lakh metric tonnes of raw cashew a year, with a major share coming from the African markets.<br></p><p></p>