The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India(CEPCI)

The Cashew Export Promotion Council of India (CEPCI) with its headquarters at Ernakulam, Kerala was established by the Government of India on 17th August 1955, with the active co-operation of the cashew industry. The Council provides the necessary institutional framework for performing the different functions that serve to intensify and promote India’s exports of cashew kernels, cashew nut shell liquid, cardanol and allied products. It is a non-profit making company serving the trade to boost export earnings. CEPC Laboratory and Technical Division

The CEPC Laboratory and Technical Division was established in the year 1997 and since then, the services of this laboratory are not only available to the cashew industry but also to the entire food processing industry in India and abroad.

The laboratory possesses the best of analytical equipments (indigenous and imported), qualified staff from various disciplines like Microbiology, Biochemistry, Entomology, Chemistry, Botany, Quality Systems and Computer Science, and has facilities to test food and agricultural products, water, wastewater, solid waste and drug products. The CEPC Laboratory has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt of India in the field of Chemical and Biological Testing. The laboratory is recognized by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for the testing of packaged drinking water as per IS1 4543:2004 and approved by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) Grade A, for carrying out tests on water, waste water and solid waste. CEPC labs provide opportunities to professionals, upcoming students and future scientists by offering technical courses and conducting periodic training to cater to industry demands and bring value addition to the candidate’s capacities. Students from various institutions in and outside Kerala doing B.Sc./M.Sc./M.Phil.(Microbiology/Biotechnology/Biochemistry) are provided with facilities to complete their project work. This lab offers consultancy services to the food processing industry for modernization and also offers short term research programmes to outside organizations, sponsored and funded by them. Two external funded projects are currently being undertaken by CEPC namely NAIP-ICAR Project on” A Value Chain on Cashew for Domestic and Export Market” funded by World Bank and a Research Project on “Production of Industrial Bio-ethanol from Cashew Apple funded by Cashew Special office,Kollam(Govt. of Kerala).