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The 40th World Nut and Dried Fruit Congress, organised by the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council (INC), will be held in London from May 22 to 24.
As many as 1,300 professionals from more than 60 countries will gather at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London for the event, which is coming back to London after 26 years. Around 50 top Indian nuts and dried fruit processors will also attend the meet.
The attendees will debate and discuss industry knowledge covering topics such as product and market trends, nutrition, and the latest scientific discoveries in nut and dried fruit consumption.
UK stats
Quoting figures, Pratap Nair, INC Board Member said the UK is the top 15 tree nut consumer in the world, with domestic consumption estimated at 75,000 tonnes per year (kernel basis, except pistachios in-shell).
The most consumed tree nuts in the UK are cashews (30 per cent), followed by almonds (26 per cent), walnuts (15 per cent), hazelnuts (13 per cent) and pistachios (6 per cent).
As for dried fruit consumption, the UK is the eighth consuming country worldwide, with raisins accounting for 92,600 tonnes/year, which is 78 per cent of the overall dried fruit consumption.
Robust consumption in India
In contrast to the world scenario, Nair said the Indian consumption of dried fruits and nuts continues to be robust. One of the reasons is that the Indian economy has not been affected by the Ukraine war and is growing at 7 per cent.
Furthermore, a rise in disposable income and the growth of the middle class are both contributing factors. The fact that nuts are a healthy addition to one’s diet is now well known in India which led to increased consumption.
“We can expect an annual increase of 7-8 per cent in consumption in India over the next 10 years,” Nair added.
Over the last decade, tree nut consumption grew at a rate of 5 per cent per year. Regarding product category, flavoured nuts, and nut-based spreads, are clearly growing, he said.
- Also read: Almonds are forever
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