W180, W240, W320 — the codes on a kaju pouch look cryptic, but cashew grades follow one simple rule. W stands for whole, and the number is roughly the count of kernels in one pound (454 g). A lower number means a bigger kernel; a higher number means smaller kernels, packed tighter together.
The standards behind the codes are older and better organised than most people expect. The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India, set up in 1955, publishes the grade families used across the export trade, and the AFI (Association of Food Industries) publishes the per-pound counts the international market trades on. One myth to clear away first: these codes are not a quality score. A W320 is not a lesser kaju than a W180 — it is a smaller kernel, graded just as carefully and sold at a kinder price.
We sort every one of these grades by hand at our own processing unit, so we see the letters and the kernels together all day. Here is that knowledge written out plainly: what each code says, how the grades differ, where each one belongs in an Indian kitchen, and why the price climbs as the number drops.
What the W means in cashew grades
Start with the W. In every grade sheet, W marks a whole white kernel — the familiar crescent shape, complete except that trade rules allow up to one-eighth of the kernel to be broken off and still count as whole. Then comes the number, and the number is arithmetic: take a pound of that grade and count the kernels. Land between 140 and 180 and you are holding W180; land between 300 and 320 and you have W320.
Two sets of eyes govern the codes. CEPC — the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India — publishes India’s export grade codes: white wholes (W180 through W500), scorched wholes (SW grades), dessert wholes (DW), and the piece families you will meet below. The AFI’s specification table is the working standard for trade into the United States and many other markets. And a useful correction for the shopping queue: FSSAI, India’s food regulator, does not publish W-grades at all. FSSAI governs food safety and labelling; the W codes are trade specifications, set by the export and trading bodies. So the number on the pack tells you about size and shape — not about some government seal of approval.
A last clarification while we are counting: some Indian shops quote counts per kilogram instead of per pound. The two systems translate (a pound is 454 g), and we give both figures in the chart below.
The cashew grade chart, grade by grade
Here is the full spread, in one table — counts as published in the AFI specification, uses as each grade actually gets used in Indian homes.
| Grade | Kernels per pound | Approx. kernels per kg | What you see | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W180 | 140–180 | 266–395 | Plump, pale, the biggest whole kernels | Gifting, festive trays, eating plain |
| W210 | 180–210 | 395–465 | A shade smaller than W180, same even shape | Everyday snacking, sweets, gifting |
| W240 | 220–240 | 485–530 | Balanced whole kernels | Snacking, curries, desserts |
| W320 | 300–320 | 660–706 | Compact whole kernels | Cooking, gravies, mithai |
| W450 | 400–450 | 880–990 | Small whole kernels | Baking, pastes, everyday cooking |
| Splits | halves | — | Kernels split lengthwise in half | Grinding, pastes, sweets |
| Skin-on | — | — | Whole kernels with the brown skin kept on | Roasting at home, trail mixes |
Note the asterisk-sized truths around those numbers. The counts are trade figures, and they move a shade between sources; older tables sometimes quote W180 as roughly 130–140 per pound, so treat the ranges as spans, not law. Whole grades also carry an allowed tolerance — up to 10% broken kernels inside a W-grade bag is normal and spec-compliant — and up to 10% of kernels may sit just below the size band. A pristine, perfectly uniform pack is a grading achievement, not a legal baseline.
Colour gets its own vocabulary too. White grades are pale ivory; when a kernel darkens in processing, it is graded “scorched” and sold under the SW codes as second quality — flavour broadly normal, appearance one step warmer. Nothing mysterious, nothing mouldy: just heat and colour, coded.
Why a lower W number costs more
The arithmetic of scarcity explains most of it. Every kernel in a batch must belong inside its grade’s count range, and the biggest grade — W180 — draws from the smallest pool: only the largest kernels of each lot make the cut. Sorting for that grade takes the most hand time, kernel after kernel, and the price moves with the care spent on it.
You can see the ladder in our own pack list. At the time of writing, a W180 pouch runs ₹179 per 100 g (₹1,599 for 1 kg), our W320 sits at ₹139 per 100 g (₹1,149 a kg), and Splits start at ₹129 per 100 g (₹1,019 a kg). The direction is the point: smaller number, bigger kernel, higher bill.
But read that the other way too. Big whole kernels earn their price when they are on display — the platter at Diwali, the shagun box, a bowl set out for guests. For everything that happens behind the stove, the kitchen rarely needs a kernel that size. That is the money-saving idea the next section is about.
Splits, butts and LWP: the rest of the code sheet
The W families get the headlines, but the CEPC code sheet runs wider — and this is where smart buyers find value. The main families:
| Code | Family | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| W | White wholes | Whole kernels in their characteristic shape |
| SW | Scorched wholes | Whole kernels, darker from extra heat in processing |
| DW | Dessert wholes | Wholes of a lower dessert-quality class |
| B | Butts | Broken crosswise, the two cotyledons still joined |
| S | Splits | Half a kernel, split lengthwise |
| LWP, SWP | Large and small white pieces | Sieve-sized pieces for industrial-style use |
| BB | Baby bits | The smallest pieces in the sheet |
| SB, SS, SP | Scorched pieces | The piece families in the scorched colour class |
Our Splits pack is exactly that CEPC “S” grade: kernels that came apart naturally into two clean halves during shelling. Nothing about the kernel changed — same nut, same oil, same flavour — only the shape. We sort them and sell them as their own product, not as a leftover bin, because cooks know what they are for: soak, grind, and the halves make the same paste for shahi gravy and mithai that a whole kernel would, without the whole-kernel price.
LWP — large white pieces — sits a step smaller, and further down SWP and baby bits. Cooks buy these for exactly one job: volume and flavour, no shape. Biscuit makers, sweet shops and fast home cooks have quietly used pieces for years.
Skin-on: a style, not a grade
One pack in most shops needs a different explanation. The brown skin on a cashew kernel — the testa — is normally removed, because commercial white grades are judged with the kernel peeled bare; a trade spec will even score skin larger than 2 mm sticking to a kernel as a defect. Keeping the skin on, then, is not a grade with a number. It is a deliberate style.
People keep it for reasons that make sense: the skin carries a deeper, nuttier bite, home roasting is easier and more honest-looking, and skin-on kernels hold their ground in trail mixes. Our skin-on pack is plain kernels with the skin left on — not roasted, not salted — and we describe the whole-kernel size inside rather than pretend there is a W number for it. There isn’t one; the trade simply never wrote that standard.
How a grade is made, from nut to pouch
Grading is the last visible step of a longer pipeline that barely changes across the industry. Raw cashew nuts are sun-dried after harvest so their shells will crack cleanly later. The nuts are sized, then heat-treated — in mainstream Indian work, steamed — to soften the double shell and make the shell liquid safe to handle. Shelling releases the kernel; a hot-air drying step makes the brown skin brittle; peeling takes it off. Only then does grading begin — sorting into W counts, splits, butts and pieces, colour by colour.
That middle part is standard across India. What a buyer can look for is the layer after it. At our unit, raw nuts come in and are shelled — about a tonne of kernels moves through in a month — and then every kernel is graded by hand into its class before packing. Hand sorting is slower than a sieve line, and that is the point: the eye notices what a mesh cannot.
Packing finishes the work. Ours goes out in kraft stand-up zip pouches, with a best-before of 6 months from the date of packing. Keep the pouch closed, keep it cool and dry, keep it away from sunlight — the same storage the trade specifies — and each grade holds its crunch to the last handful.
Choosing from here
If you absorb only the shape of the system, you already know more than most shoppers: W = whole, number = count, lower number = bigger kernel, splits and pieces = the kitchen’s value engine.
Two places to go next. If a specific grade has caught your eye, our W180 guide walks through the biggest one — worth understanding before you gift-pack it. And if the question is really “what should my next pouch be?”, the plain answer sits in which grade to buy, matched to snacking, cooking and baking instead of to letters.
Questions people ask
What does W stand for in cashew grades?
W stands for whole kernel. The number is roughly the count of kernels per pound (454 g), so a lower number means a bigger kernel.
Is W180 the same as king-size kaju?
W180 is the largest standard whole grade, about 140–180 kernels per pound, and shops often call it king size. King size is the nickname; the count is the standard.
Does a bigger W number mean worse cashews?
No. The number measures size, not quality. W320 kernels are smaller than W180 but are graded whole and clean to the same trade specifications.
What is LWP cashew?
Large white pieces — a trade code for kernel pieces rather than whole kernels, used mostly for grinding and cooking. Same kernel, different size and shape.
Who publishes the cashew grade standards?
Trade bodies: the Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPC) and the AFI publish the grade codes. FSSAI regulates food safety and labelling, not grade counts.
