In the next three months tourists visiting Goa will get the taste of real Goan cashew nuts with a Geographical Indication (GI) label on their packet, rather than taking back home poor-quality stuff.
Usually, tourists purchase the cashew nuts labeled as ‘Goa Cashew’ which in fact come from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Maharashtra. It is mostly imported from Benin, Ivory Coast and Indonesia. Hence, the purchaser doesn’t get the taste of Goan cashews.
Though officials have raided shops in the coastal areas that sell cashew nuts imported from other states under the ‘Goan Cashew’ brand, the officials could not stop this practice due to the absence of strong legislation.
The Goa Cashew Manufacturers Association said “We are optimistic that things will change after we start selling GI-labelled cashew nut packets, which will give a real taste of Goa to tourists. We have no issue that shops in the coastal areas sell cashew nuts, but they should not sell imported nuts or poor-quality nuts labeled as ‘Goan Cashew’.”
The local raw cashew production is around 26,000 tons. However, the societies who purchase it from ‘the growers’ sell it to units from other states. Thus, Goan units are forced to import raw cashews from Africa.