Almost every cashew sold in an Indian supermarket is the same grade. You have probably never eaten another one, which is why the first large-grade cashew tastes like a different nut rather than a bigger one.
The grading system is not marketing. It is a real export standard, it is printed on every trade sack that crosses a border, and it is the single most useful thing you can learn about buying cashews.
What the letters and numbers mean
W stands for White Whole — a whole kernel, undamaged, with its natural pale ivory colour intact.
The number is cashews per pound. Fewer nuts to make the weight means each nut is larger.
| Grade | Nuts per pound | Roughly per kg | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| W160 | 140–160 | ~310–353 | The largest commercial grade. Scarce |
| W180 | 170–180 | ~395 | "King size" |
| W210 | 200–210 | ~460 | Jumbo |
| W240 | 230–240 | ~530 | Large |
| W320 | 300–320 | ~705 | The standard supermarket grade |
| W450 | 400–450 | ~990 | Small wholes |
So the number runs backwards from intuition: lower number, bigger nut. W160 is the largest, W450 the smallest.
W160: what the top of the ladder actually is
W160 is not a marketing tier above jumbo. It is a sieve size, and very little of any harvest passes it.
A cashew tree does not produce grades — it produces a spread. Sorting runs the shelled kernels across graded sieves, and the proportion that comes out at 140–160 nuts per pound is a small fraction of the total, in a normal year well under a tenth. That scarcity is the entire reason for the price gap, and it is why most brands never stock the grade at all: you cannot build a year-round supermarket line on an output that thin.
What you notice, holding one:
It does not look like a supermarket cashew. A W160 is roughly twice the weight of a W320. Side by side the comparison stops being about percentages.
The bite is dense, not chalky. This is the difference people describe without knowing the vocabulary. A large kernel has a lower surface-to-volume ratio, so more of its own oil stays inside rather than escaping at the cut faces during drying and roasting. Small grades dry out and crumble; W160 gives before it breaks.
It is sweeter. Cashews carry natural sugars that concentrate as the kernel matures on the tree. The biggest kernels come from the most developed nuts. "Starchy" — the word people reach for when a cashew disappoints — is what a small, under-developed kernel tastes like.
Our Cashew Jumbo 250gm is W160 from Mangalore. The grade is printed on the pack because it is checkable, and further down this page is the method for checking it.
The grades that are not W
If a pack does not carry a W number, it is usually because the contents are not whole kernels.
- SW — Scorched Wholes. Whole, but browned by heat during shelling. Same taste, off-colour, cheaper.
- DW — Dessert Wholes. Whole but discoloured or misshapen.
- B / S — Butts and Splits. Broken into two natural halves.
- LWP / SWP — Large and Small White Pieces.
- BB — Baby Bits. Fragments.
None of these are bad. Splits and pieces are the sensible thing to buy for kaju katli, for gravies, for anything ground or cooked, and paying whole-kernel prices to blitz them in a mixer is a waste. But a bowl of cashews put out for guests is a different job, and pieces cannot do it.
The trap is the pack that says "large cashews" with no grade at all. That is almost always W320, and frequently a blend with a percentage of splits mixed in.
Which grade should you buy?
For cooking, grinding, sweets and gravies — splits or pieces. Same kernel, considerably cheaper, and the shape is destroyed in the first thirty seconds anyway.
For everyday snacking — W320 does the job, and there is no shame in it.
For a bowl on the table, for gifting, for the occasion where the nut is the whole experience — W240 or larger. This is where grade stops being a spec and becomes the thing you actually taste.
W160 is a deliberate choice, not a default. It costs what it costs because the sieve does not produce much of it. If you are putting cashews in front of people whose opinion you care about, that is what it is for.
Expect roughly 25–40% more per kilo for each step up the ladder, steepening sharply at W180 and above.
How to check a grade claim yourself
This is the part the category would rather you skipped.
Count them. The only test that cannot be argued with. Weigh out 100g and count the kernels.
| Grade | Kernels in 100g |
|---|---|
| W160 | 31–35 |
| W180 | 37–40 |
| W240 | 50–53 |
| W320 | 66–70 |
If a pack claims W160 and you count 68, you have your answer, and you did not need anyone's permission to find it.
Look at the colour. A good cashew is a uniform pale ivory. Yellowing means age or over-drying. Brown patches mean scorching during shelling — harmless, but that is SW grade being sold as W.
Check the curve. Whole kernels have a distinct comma shape with an unbroken inner curve. Run your eye along the inside edge of a handful; if a third have a flat, split face, you are looking at butts sold as wholes.
Smell. Cashews are around 46% fat, most of it monounsaturated, and it goes rancid quietly. Fresh cashews smell faintly sweet and milky. Anything sharp, waxy or paint-like is oxidised, and roasting will not hide it.
Where cashews come from, and why it matters
India, Vietnam, Ivory Coast and Ghana dominate global volume. Vietnam processes the most by a wide margin, including a large share of raw nuts grown in West Africa and shipped for shelling.
Origin affects taste more than most people expect.
Indian coastal cashews — particularly from Mangalore, Goa and the Konkan belt — tend to be sweeter and less starchy, with a softer bite. The trees grow in laterite soil close to the sea, and the harvest is smaller and more hand-handled.
Vietnamese cashews are consistent, well-graded and slightly firmer, with a cleaner but flatter flavour.
West African cashews vary widely depending on how long they sat before shelling.
None of these is dishonest. But a pack that says only "cashews" is telling you the origin was not worth mentioning, which usually means it was whichever lot was cheapest that month.
Storing them
Cashews are more delicate than they look. Their high fat content and low tannin mean nothing in the nut is protecting it from oxidation.
Airtight container, dark cupboard, away from the stove. At Indian room temperature expect around four months sealed; refrigerated, eight. Once a pack is open, halve that.
If they lose their snap, five minutes in a dry pan on low heat brings the texture back. It does not bring back a rancid nut — that is one-way.
Frequently asked questions
What is the largest cashew grade? W160, at 140–160 kernels per pound. Some exporters list a W150 for exceptional lots, but W160 is the largest grade in routine commercial trade.
Is W160 worth the price over W240? For eating and gifting, the difference is obvious rather than marginal — nearly double the kernel weight of a W320, denser and sweeter. For cooking, no: buy splits and spend the difference elsewhere.
Is W240 better than W320? Larger, creamier and sweeter, yes. It is the sensible middle of the ladder if W160 is more than the occasion needs.
Why are some cashews brown? Usually scorching during shelling, which uses heat to soften the shell. Scorched wholes (SW) taste the same and cost less — they are only a problem when sold as W-grade.
Are broken cashews lower quality? No. Splits and pieces are the same kernel, broken during processing. They are the sensible buy for anything cooked or ground. They are only "lower" if you needed a whole nut.
Does grade affect nutrition? Barely. Protein, fat and mineral content per gram are essentially identical across grades. Grade affects size, texture and sweetness — not what the nut does for you.
Why do supermarket packs never state a grade? Because stating it invites comparison. Vagueness is commercially useful when the contents are ordinary.
The grade on the pack should be the grade in the pack. Weigh out 100g and count — that is the whole argument.
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