It’s been over 100 years and the fourth generation of Zantyes is still going strong in the family run cashew nut business
The various brands of cashew nuts available in the marketspeak of their quality and ultimately, define exclusivity. As Goa is synonymouswith cashew nuts, so are the Zantyes and their brand is among the top. Cashewturnover has touched Rs 40 crore mark at the Zantye Cashewnuts Pvt Ltd in thefiscal 2011-12 and this includes the domestic as well export figures.
“Zantyes have been dealing with cashew nuts right from theturn of the twentieth century. My grandfather Ganesh Prabhu Zantye forayed intothe business of trading and processing cashew nuts around 1905 at Malvan inSindhudurg district of Maharashtra where our family had migrated from ouroriginal village Ecoxim in Bardez during the Portuguese era. My father NarayanGanesh Prabhu Zantye returned to Goa in 1926 and set up his first cashewprocessing unit it Bicholim,” shares Suresh N P Zantye who along with hisbrother Umesh N P Zantye nurtures the family cashew business. Zantyes haveshowed their innovativeness in various fields. Zantye Brothers’ EducationalFoundation is active in the field of education. “Our eldest brother Harish N PZantye founded the Bicholim Urban Co-operative Bank 26 years ago,” statesUmesh, Chairman of this bank.
Turning the page of business history Suresh recalls, “Mygrandfather was one of the pioneers of the import and export trade of cashewnuts in India, who imported raw cashew nuts from the Portuguese colony ofMombasa and exported the kernels to the USA forging a technical collaborationwith General Foods Sales Corp and Vetapack Corp, both of the US, in 1928.Realising the nutritive value of cashew which also acts as a food tasteenhancer, he started the Zantye Cashews Pvt Ltd and became the largest exporterby 1947.”
With factories at Bicholim in Goa and Malvan and Vengurla inMaharashtra, Zantyes not only produce cashews but also import raw kernels fromTanzania, West Africa and Indonesia. “After processing we export to the USA,Europe and Japan and have our outlets in Goa and dealers all over India,”explains Suresh who has carved a niche in the industry by introducing organicvariety of the nut in the health conscious consumer market.
“The reason why we have introduced organic cashew nuts is toachieve a better balance between the supply and demand for agriculturalproducts, yet cause no harm to the environment,” says Siddharth Suresh Zantyewho represents the fourth generation of Zantyes. A mechanical engineer who hasdone MBA in marketing Siddharth joined the family business in 2000.
The organic nuts are collected during the harvest season –March-May, sundried for two days before storing in the godown for handprocessing throughout the year. There is the steam roasting and shellingprocess undertaken before they are ready to go in the market. The nuts arede-shelled with hand cutters and the outer shell and kernels are separated byhand.
Today the varieties of their ready-to-eat cashew nuts aremany – drum roasted natural, salted, dry salted, pepper, chat (Indian spicy),cheese, masala etc. This is more of a traditional business but technology hasintroduced a sea change in the processing job.
