A purpose-built device for an industry that had been asking for one for years.
The challenge
The problem
Moisture is one of the most critical variables in cashew processing. It
directly affects how cleanly the shell cuts, how much usable kernel you
get from a batch, how well it roasts, and how long it lasts in storage.
When the moisture is off, you get poor cuts, lower yield, uneven
roasting, and in the worst case, mould that ruins entire batches. For an
industry that operates on thin margins, these aren't small problems.
They're the difference between a profitable season and a bad one.
And yet, for the longest time, there was no reliable way to measure it
on the factory floor. The standard method in most processing units was
simple: grab a handful of raw cashew nuts, toss them, and listen to the
sound they make. Experienced processors could tell from the sound
whether the moisture was in the right range. It sounds crude, but people
with decades of practice were genuinely good at it.
The problem is that this skill takes years to develop. A new worker
can't learn it in a week. On a bad day, or with an unfamiliar batch from
a different origin, even the most experienced person can get it wrong.
And when someone with thirty years of experience retires, that knowledge
disappears with them. Some factories had tried grain moisture meters,
but those were built for rice and wheat, and most processors gave up on
them. Lab testing by oven drying was accurate but took hours.
An entire industry making decisions worth lakhs of rupees every day,
based on the sound of cashews being tossed in someone's hands. That's
the gap we walked into.
Origin story
How we got into this
I was attending a talk where industry leaders were speaking to small
startups, sharing real problems and hoping someone in the room would
take them seriously. During one of those sessions, someone from the
cashew industry asked a straightforward question: can anyone build a
reliable moisture meter for cashews?
They explained that nothing purpose-built existed. That they'd been
asking for years. That the available tools weren't designed for their
needs and didn't give trustworthy results. The question stuck with me. I
started visiting factories, talking to people, watching how they worked.
And the more I learned, the more obvious it became that this was a real
problem that nobody had solved properly.
The product
What we built
We built a moisture meter from scratch, specifically for raw cashew nuts
and natural whole kernels. Not a modified grain meter. Not a lab
instrument. A portable, field-ready device designed to give stable,
repeatable readings under the conditions that actually exist in a cashew
processing factory: dust, heat, rough handling, unstable power, and
operators who don't have time to read a manual.
Consistent, repeatable readings across batches and origins
Simple enough that anyone can use it without training
Built to survive the reality of a factory floor
Handles dust, drops, and voltage that fluctuates through the day
Designed to be opened and repaired, not thrown away
Priced for small and mid-sized units, not just large factories
The Culti7 moisture meter
01
Sample
Place a fixed quantity of nuts or kernels into the chamber. No preparation needed.
02
Measure
The device reads the electrical response, which correlates with moisture content.
03
Decide
Compare readings across trays and batches. Know when to dry more, cut, or store.
The hard part
A year of calibration
The calibration alone took over a year. You can't calibrate a device
like this in a lab because cashews vary by origin, season, storage
conditions and processing method. We had to collect data from real
factories, godowns and dockyards under every condition we could find.
We went through many prototypes, some of which failed in ways we didn't
catch until they were already in someone's hands. Each failure taught us
something that made the next version better.
Over a year of calibration under real conditions
Real-world results
The impact
100+
Processing units using the device
2
Continents: India & Africa
4+
Years in continuous operation
Every unit out there got there because someone used the device, trusted
the readings, and recommended it to someone else. No marketing budget,
no distributor network, no sales pitch. Just one processor telling
another that this thing actually works.
Processors who used to argue about moisture on the factory floor now
check the reading and move on. Purchasing decisions that used to depend
on one experienced person's judgement can now be verified by anyone.
The disagreements got fewer. The drying decisions got better. Storage
losses went down because people could verify readiness instead of
guessing. None of this is flashy. But for the people who work in this
industry every day, it's the kind of change that actually matters.
Field testing at a dockyard
Watch
See it in action
The team
The people behind this
Pramod Sir (Mr. Pramod Kamath) is the person who made this product
possible. When I started, I was an engineer with no understanding of the
cashew industry. Pramod Sir filled every one of those gaps. He didn't
advise from a distance. He ran experiments with us, spent time in the
field collecting data, helped us understand why our readings didn't make
sense, connected us with factory owners willing to test rough
prototypes, and told us clearly when our work wasn't good enough. A lot
of the early trust we earned came from his reputation, not ours. And
this isn't past tense. He's still involved, still helping, still pushing
us to make the device better.
Presenting to Bolas with Pramod Sir
Mr. Pramod Kamath
Mentor, collaborator, still involved
Ran experiments with us, taught us the industry, connected us to our
first users, and continues to help improve the device today.
Friends & former colleagues
The people who showed up
Long drives to factory floors, recalibrating under the afternoon sun,
and doing it all again the next day.
