COVID-19 & Demand for Nuts and Dried Fruits
In total, over 330 participants
from 46 countries attended the webinar, making it a very international audience. Led by INC Chairman Michael Waring, the discussions began by taking a closer look into the demand for nuts and dried fruits, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected consumption across the world. To address this, Mark Mariani, the Executive Chairman for Mariani Packing Company in the US first gave a look at how demand has and is recovering in North America. And despite the many difficulties caused by the pandemic, Mr. Mariani noted that new consumers had been introduced to products like dried fruit and that there has been strong growth for these items, both as snacking and ingredients. From there, we heard from Pratap Nair, Managing Partner at Vijayalaxmi Cashew Company in India. Mr. Nair touched on the struggles that India has had as a result of COVID-19, like one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. However, due to aggressive vaccination campaigns and government stimulus, he shared that India was on the right track, and we can expect stronger demand for nuts and dried fruits during the upcoming festive season in India. To wrap up the topic of demand and consumption, Antonio Pont, INC Honorary President and Honorary President of Borges in Spain, provided a thoughtful look into the struggles that consumers have faced as a result of the pandemic. He talked about the psychological effect and the increased focus on healthy foods, which is perfect for nuts and dried fruits as they have been proven to be a perfect healthy addition to any diet. Mr. Pont said he believed all the indicators were showing that consumption is poised to increase and these new trends are here to stay.
from 46 countries attended the webinar, making it a very international audience. Led by INC Chairman Michael Waring, the discussions began by taking a closer look into the demand for nuts and dried fruits, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected consumption across the world. To address this, Mark Mariani, the Executive Chairman for Mariani Packing Company in the US first gave a look at how demand has and is recovering in North America. And despite the many difficulties caused by the pandemic, Mr. Mariani noted that new consumers had been introduced to products like dried fruit and that there has been strong growth for these items, both as snacking and ingredients. From there, we heard from Pratap Nair, Managing Partner at Vijayalaxmi Cashew Company in India. Mr. Nair touched on the struggles that India has had as a result of COVID-19, like one of the strictest lockdowns in the world. However, due to aggressive vaccination campaigns and government stimulus, he shared that India was on the right track, and we can expect stronger demand for nuts and dried fruits during the upcoming festive season in India. To wrap up the topic of demand and consumption, Antonio Pont, INC Honorary President and Honorary President of Borges in Spain, provided a thoughtful look into the struggles that consumers have faced as a result of the pandemic. He talked about the psychological effect and the increased focus on healthy foods, which is perfect for nuts and dried fruits as they have been proven to be a perfect healthy addition to any diet. Mr. Pont said he believed all the indicators were showing that consumption is poised to increase and these new trends are here to stay.Sustainability in Nuts and Dried Fruits
The next topic of discussion was one that has taken the whole world by storm and that is sustainability. Bill Carriere, the President/CEO of Carriere Family Farms in the US kicked off the topic by covering the historical drought that California has been experiencing. With water reservoirs at significantly lower levels than past years, he acknowledged that this has made things difficult for Californian growers, but the agricultural sector is taking proactive efforts to be more sustainable with water usage. Pino Calcagni, 2nd INC Vice Chairman and Honorary President of Besana Group in Italy, then shared with the audience the importance of the nut and dried fruit industry doing its part to contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the INC’s steps of starting a Sustainability Working Group aimed to bring more focus to sustainable activities within the sector. He encouraged each INC member to join this program and support it as the topic of sustainability can no longer be pushed aside. The final speaker on sustainability was Ashok Krishen, 1st INC Vice Chairman and Managing Director Edible Nuts at Olam International Limited in Singapore. He dived into some concrete examples of what companies in the sector can do to put a focus on sustainable activities. He mentioned how nut and dried fruit companies could impact livelihoods, human rights and inclusion, health and nutrition, the living world, and greenhouse gas emissions. All of these play an important role in creating a sustainable industry.Supply and Shipping for the Nut and Dried Fruit Sector
The final topic t
hat was covered was the Californian supply, global demand, and shipping. Jack Mariani, President of Mariani Nut Company in the US gave insights into each of California’s main products and noted that despite difficult conditions, there has been record supply and shipping out of California. Giles Hacking, Managing Director of CG Hacking and Sons Limited in the UK then discussed the all too familiar issue of logistics and shipping. Mr. Hacking touched on the congestion that some of the world’s largest ports have been experiencing, the labor shortage, and of course the massive increases in freight rates. He also mentioned the effect that Brexit has had on shipping in the industry. Despite the extremely high cost of freight, there has been some relief in that aspect as the price has stabilized a bit over the past week. To conclude the subject, the rest of the panel chimed in on the shipping crisis and held discussions about the uncertainty of the entire situation.
hat was covered was the Californian supply, global demand, and shipping. Jack Mariani, President of Mariani Nut Company in the US gave insights into each of California’s main products and noted that despite difficult conditions, there has been record supply and shipping out of California. Giles Hacking, Managing Director of CG Hacking and Sons Limited in the UK then discussed the all too familiar issue of logistics and shipping. Mr. Hacking touched on the congestion that some of the world’s largest ports have been experiencing, the labor shortage, and of course the massive increases in freight rates. He also mentioned the effect that Brexit has had on shipping in the industry. Despite the extremely high cost of freight, there has been some relief in that aspect as the price has stabilized a bit over the past week. To conclude the subject, the rest of the panel chimed in on the shipping crisis and held discussions about the uncertainty of the entire situation.
Mr. Waring, the INC Chairman then closed the webinar giving a brief overview of the topics discussed, mentioning that as an industry, we must work together to ensure that nuts and dried fruits can reach consumers and that consumers understand the importance of their health benefits. He also brought up the importance of investing in sustainability within the sector, and that although the shipping situation is uncertain, with time, things will return to a sense of normalcy.
The INC invites you to watch the full webinar by visiting the Member Area of the INC Website.
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting this wonderful event and industry!
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