<p></p><p>Starting next year, cashew apple juice will be used in the manufacture of mixed fruit juice drinks sold in India under Pepsi Cola's Tropicana label. PepsiCo India is looking for sources of locally produced cashew apple juice, to bring prices down their production cost by partly substituting the more expensive apple, pineapple and banana juices. They are also meeting consumers' preference for new types of soft drinks. The steady demand for new soft drinks of consumers born between 1980's and 2000's, and of the emerging middle class, is driving many food companies to experiment on a grand scale with flavors and ingredients whose appeal until recently were largely local. The cashew apple is an exotic and practically costless by-product of cashew nut, therefore considered a premium ingredient in new types of soft drinks.</p> <p>The highly nutritious cashew juice has a high vitamin C content; however, the high tannins content gives it an acrid taste. Only relatively small quantities of cashew apples are commercially processed to juices, mainly in Thailand and Brazil. The very short life of cashew apples, which ferment within 24 hours of picking, poses a challenge to the larger-scale manufacture of non-alcoholic cashew juice. In December 2013, Pepsi partnered with the Clinton Foundation in a program to improve the cultivation, yields, collection and rapid processing of cashew apples, and to incorporate small Indian farmers into the global supply chain. </p><p> </p><br><p></p>