Cashew Processing Industry and Worker Tradition of Kollam

Kollam district is the cashew capital of India, processing over 40% of the country's cashew nuts. The processing industry emerged in the 1920s when British trading firms established the first shelling and peeling units in Kollam port. Today the district has over 500 cashew factories ranging from large mechanised units to cottage processing centres. The most skilled work — the hand-cutting of roasted cashew shells to extract whole kernels without damage — is performed almost entirely by women workers. Using a small iron lever-action cutter, an experienced worker can process up to 20 kg of roasted nuts per day. Kollam cashew workers are organised through trade unions and cooperative factories, and the industry supports over 300,000 livelihoods directly.