Why Kollam Is the Cashew Capital of the World

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Ask anyone in the global nut trade where the world’s best cashews come from, and one name comes up again and again: Kollam. This coastal city in southern Kerala has been the beating heart of the international cashew industry since the 1930s — and the reason is not geography alone, but generations of accumulated skill.

A Capital Built in the 1930s

Kollam’s rise began in the early twentieth century, when the city’s port, its rail links, and its abundance of skilled labour made it the natural home for cashew processing at scale. By the 1930s, Kollam had become the recognised centre of the world’s cashew trade — a position it has never surrendered. At the industry’s height, roughly 80% of India’s export-quality cashew kernels were prepared in and around this one city.

Today, the district is home to more than 600 cashew processing units. Raw nuts arrive from across India and overseas; what leaves Kollam is something else entirely — graded, roasted, hand-finished kernels that set the world standard.

The Hands Behind the Craft

Kollam’s real advantage has always been its people. The industry’s workforce is overwhelmingly women — skilled specialists whose shelling, peeling, and grading judgement is passed from mother to daughter. A machine can sort by size; it takes a trained eye and hand to judge a kernel’s colour, wholeness, and finish the way Kollam’s graders do. This is why “Kollam cashews” means something specific in the trade: kernels that are whole, uniform, and clean to a degree that other origins struggle to match.

Drum Roasting — the Kollam Signature

Kollam’s traditional processors roast cashews in rotating drums, a slower method that heats the kernel evenly through its body rather than searing the surface. Drum roasting develops the nut’s natural sweetness and delivers the clean, dry crunch that Kerala households recognise instantly — no oil bath, no coating, nothing to mask the kernel itself. It is the method Pretty Nuts uses for every pack we sell.

Our Place in the Story

Pretty Nuts is the retail house of United Cashews, processing cashews in Chandanathope — the historic cashew belt of Kollam — since 2005. For two decades we have bought A-grade raw nuts, drum roasted them the traditional way, and graded every batch by hand. Today our packs sit on supermarket shelves across south Kerala, and our kernels travel factory-direct to homes across India.

We did not invent Kollam’s craft. We inherited it — and we hold ourselves to it.

Taste the Heritage

Every Pretty Nuts pack is W240-grade whole kernels — the connoisseur’s standard. Curious what the grades mean? Read our cashew grades guide (W180 vs W240 vs W320), find a shelf near you on our where-to-buy page, or order premium Kollam cashews factory-direct.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Kollam called the cashew capital of the world?

Kollam has been the recognised centre of the international cashew trade since the 1930s, when its port, rail links and skilled workforce made it the natural home for processing at scale. The district is still home to more than 600 cashew processing units today.

What makes Kollam cashews special?

Generations of hand skill — shelling, peeling and grading judgement passed down within families — plus the traditional drum-roasting method. In the trade, “Kollam cashews” means kernels that are whole, uniform and clean to a degree other origins struggle to match.

What is drum roasting?

Kollam’s signature method: kernels tumble in a slowly rotating heated drum and cook evenly in their own natural oils, with no oil bath and no coating. It develops the nut’s natural sweetness and a clean, dry crunch. Read the full comparison with oil roasting.