Big crops for big demand is the hot topic in the dried fruit and nuts sector as a booming interest in healthy snacking means the industry is “as big as it’s ever been”.
A move towards healthier supermarket checkouts, as well as expanding usage in anything from baking, confectionery and manufacturing, have all helped to regenerate consumer interest in dried fruit and nuts, leading to a raft of new start-up brands, and a race to ramp up global supply.
“We are seeing strong interest not just in sales but in development, and NPD has never been so strong,” says Mark Setterfield, head of sales and procurement at supplier RM Curtis. “The whole category is as active as it’s ever been. The awareness and interest in healthy eating has never been as big.
“Almonds are now used in almost every sector from confectionery, baking and manufacturing. As a result, supply needs to be very large. The crop sizes of almonds from California are massive, representing their massive increase in plantings,” he says. The mainstream ingredients are still around, he adds, but usage is expanding into new sectors, and there are new entrants tapping into the superfood trend such as goji berries and chia seeds.
In light of this rocketing global demand, Setterfield believes smaller crops, such as Brazil nuts, have limited growth potential as they are harvested as semi-wild crops with lower yields. “For Brazil nuts you need local people out there to collect the pods from big trees, it’s a very labour-intensive crop,” he explains. “As an example, Bolivia produces around 20,000 tonnes of Brazil nuts in a good year. US almond production sometimes reaches 900,000t.”
Another trend Setterfield notes is the rise of mixes, which he says are matching or even overtaking the category’s traditional core lines including roasted or salted cashews or peanuts.
Simon Melik, UK general manager of Italian dried fruit and nut supplier Besana, believes the trend for healthy eating has prompted a move to healthier unprocessed nuts. “We also see a strong increase in demand for smaller on-the-go snacking options on nuts, seeds and dried fruit weighing somewhere between 40g and 70g,” he says.
Besana sources a large proportion of its walnuts and hazelnuts from Italy, close to its production base in Naples, as well as sourcing from the US, China, Chile, South Africa, Australia, Turkey, Brazil and India. “Eastern Europe is becoming more important both for nut supply and as a market. Early cropping and high-quality varieties from well-run farms make this region an interesting source,” adds Melik.
Setterfield says the expansive global supply base means the dried fruit and nut market can be volatile. “Sometimes speculation in the market can lead to defaulting on contracts in more fragile markets,” he says. “A good example of this was earlier this year, when Vietnam cashew supply was short, but demand was very strong. We buy directly from Vietnam so we weren’t affected, but we understand there were some defaulting contracts.”
But it’s not just supply that is shaping the future of dried fruit and nuts. Melik says the Far East is one of Besana’s fastest-growing markets, as incomes rise and the benefit of a varied diet becomes more recognised in the region. And Setterfield warns that once India and China become more established buyers in the market this could start to impact on prices in the UK. “Then, even if the UK has stable demand, it doesn’t take too much for prices to go up,” he adds.
With both supply and demand developing apace, there’s no lack of opportunity in dried fruit and nuts as the sector continues to enjoy its moment in the spotlight.
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