The reason cashews are so expensive is an entire tree produces less than 2 pounds (1 kilo) of edible nuts a year, and the process of preparing the nuts for sale is very labour intensive.

Traditionally, cashew nuts are prepared as follows:

• The Cashew Apple falls off the tree
• The fruit is picked up and the nut is twisted off.
• The nut is soaked in water
• It is then laid out and dried in the sun
• Each nut is cracked open individually using a machine that is foot and hand powered
• The nut is picked out of the shell by hand
• The red skin on the nut is then scraped off with a knife
• The nuts are them graded into one of 22 grades

Machines are available for processing the nuts, but the highest grade of nuts is the whole ones, (and machinery is expensive) so many producers still use the old fashioned method.
Source(s):
http://www.theindiatree.com/forum2/index.php?showtopic=1569&pid=12537&a...


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