The Story of a Healthy Snack

VAPCOL, BAIF Campus, NH4, Warje, Pune- 411058, Tel. No.: 9673 46 7373, 9673 86 7373

The Story

VAPCOL is a company owned by tribal farmers. It was established in 1982 by a well renowned social worker by the name of Shri Manibhai Desai. Initially, the tribal farmers

were provided with cashew and mango trees to rehabilitate their wastelands. These trees not only served the purpose of soil and water conservation but, the fruits got from these trees would act as an insurance against production failures due to natural calamities.

The tribal farmers gradually organised themselves into small groups to pool their produce and thus leverage economies of scale in cashew business. Also, later they got involved with simple value addition like sorting and grading and complex value addition by flavouring of cashew they produced.

The method followed for ensuring an equitable redistribution of profits generated by the business is simple. Apart from an annual dividend paid by the company in lieu of equity participation, the company redistributes the surplus generated in the form of patronage dividend, which means, the individual farmer member becomes a shareholder in the profit according t the amount of transaction he does with the company.

The company has so far been able to make a name for itself owing to its impeccable quality standards.

We feel immense pleasure to present to you the product produced by the Happy and Proud farmers of VAPCOL.

*VAPCOL cashew is Fair Trade Certified Cashew sold under the Brand name of Vrindavan.

Shop For Change is a Fair Trade Certifying Agency. In their own words: “The Shop for Change Mark is your stamp of approval. When you see it you can trust our guarantee that your fair trade purchase will help empower farmers and artisans to improve their incomes and care for the environment. “Shop for Change: Flat 202, Plot no. 108, Sher-e-Punjab, off Mahakali Caves Road, Opp. Entrance of Green Lane, Andheri East, Mumbai - 400 093

An Introduction to Cashew

Cashew comes from the staples family and the botanical name is “Anacardium occidentale”. The cashew tree is native to Brazil’s Amazon rain forest. It was spread all over the world by Portuguese explorers. Today, it is grown commercially in Brazil, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and in many West and Central African countries. Although cashew is getting consumed is numerous forms, research shows that consuming cashew as cashew kernel is the best way to avail all rich minerals and proteins present by cashew.

Nutritive Aspects of Cashew

Cashew, owing to its nutritious contents is extremely beneficial for health if included in the daily dietary regimen. Cashew is a rich source of protein, magnesium, carbohydrate, healthy fat and selenium.

Cardiovascular Health: Normal fat increases the cholesterol level in the body and results in heart diseases. But mono-saturated fat, found in cashew, lessens the cholesterol level and prevents the heart diseases. About 75% of fat content in cashew has low cholesterol content. They are rich in “heart-friendly” monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic and palmitoleic acids that help to lower bad LDL cholesterol and increase good HDL cholesterol. Individual who use cashews in their daily diet have low cholesterol level and have lesser risk of cardiac diseases.

Skin and Hair: Cashew contains plant protein. The daily intake of protein should be 10 to 35 grams, eating 100 gms of Diet Nut can give you 15 gms of protein at one go.

As an antidote to Smoking and Air Pollution: Selenium is known for its anti carcinogenic properties. Cashew is one of rarest natural source of selenium. An adult needs to consume 55mcg of selenium everyday day for maintaining a good health. The lack of selenium in your body can cause harm to the ability of the body to resist against pathogens because of harmful toxicants like cigarette and pollution. These can cause health problems. Selenium helps to prevent the development of cancer and heart disease which can cause due to the damage in your resistance capacity. We can get 3.3 mcg of nutrient by having 1 ounce of cashews. Each tin of Diet cashew tin contains 11.78 mcg of Selenium.

Weight Control: There are very few chances of having the problems of diabetes and heart diseases if we attain or sustain our health and weight. It is proved that the ones who eat raw cashews in their daily diet rather than nuts have less fat and also lose weight. (British Journal of Nutrition)

Fibre: The amount of fibre needed by men is 38 g and for women is 25 g daily. One ounce of cashew can provide 4g of fibre. It lessens the affect of colon or rectum cancer which is the terminal section of intestine and is beneficial for health. Each tin of Diet Nut can provide you with 14 gm of healthy and regulated fibre.

Stronger Bones- Smoother Nerves: Magnesium is an essential mineral. It makes our bones strong and makes the function of nerves smooth. It also stabilizes our heart beat. If the quantity of magnesium in our body becomes less it will result in problems like osteoporosis which is a disorder in which bones becomes increasingly brittle and subject

to fracture. Magnesium helps in absorption of calcium from our diet thus reducing the chances of developing osteoporosis.

Diet Nut is a sufficient source for daily magnesium requirements of our body.

Diet Nut

Diet Nut is premium flavored cashew processed under extremely high hygienic standard which is ensured by a fully integrated supply chain. Intensive care is taken to ensure that the processing environment clean and devoid of any factors that can threaten the integrity of the process in the state of the art processing plant in the Peinth (Nasik) campus of the company. Thus, it is an ideal food for health conscious educated people who are wary of locally processed nuts. The collection, processing and packaging of the product is done under personal supervision of highly experienced team of food technologists. The product is a result of a long process of research and development over years producing an optimal product to be offered to the customer.

An ideal product for parties it is a nutritious substitute to potato wafers. Diet Nut is available in the following flavors: Diet Nut Plain Salted, Diet Nut Black Pepper, Diet Nut Red Paprika.

Uses of Diet Nut

To serve Guests: You can serve delicious Diet Nut with a cup of coffee to your discerning guests. Chatting and gossips would be more pleasant.

Children: For mothers who are concerned about the nutrition intake of their children unhealthy wafers can be replaced with Diet Nut in the daily lunch boxes. Childhood is the best time to inculcate healthy dietary habits.

During Movies or Cricket: Entertainment won’t leave you unhealthy eating couch potatoes any more. Switch over to Diet Nuts.

Alcohol: Cashew can be your healthy bite with alcohol. It not only supplements but also compliments

Love Gift: It increases organ vitality. Cashew could be the ideal way of saying “I love you”.