(March 27, 2020) – This February, Almond Board of California (ABC) staff made their annual trek to India and Dubai for two events that continue to be enormously successful in strengthening key relationships among buyers and trade, as well as developing emerging markets.
President and CEO Richard Waycott, Vice President of Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs Julie Adams and India marketing consultant Sudarshan Mazumdar first attended the Almond Board’s annual trade conference in Delhi, India. India is now the almond industry’s largest export market[1] as shipments that once went to China are now largely going to India.
Select Harvest’s Dinesh Bajaj joined ABC’s Adams and Mazumdar to participate in a presentation at ABC’s trade conference in Delhi.
The conference provided an opportunity for the Almond Board to update key players in the Indian market on ABC’s marketing and trade activities and to hear their concerns and learn of any issues they may be having. This dialogue and connection is particularly important as there are so many new companies and individuals beginning to import almonds into India.
This year, several California almond industry members also participated in the presentations given at the conference, which resulted in more direct conversations about the crop situation and shipments, as well as in-depth discussions on quality issues.
After the conference in Delhi, the three ABC staff members went on to Dubai for Gulfood, the largest annual food and beverage trade show in the world. The show regularly attracts over 100,000 attendees and 4,000 exhibitors from around the globe. However, this year attendance was down slightly due to concerns over the coronavirus. Still, the trade show once again proved to be an amazing event that provided a valuable opportunity for ABC to meet with trade, learn more about what customers and consumers are looking in their foods, and of course share information about the California almond industry.
Oftentimes, attendees who visited the ABC booth represented companies just getting into almond trade who were looking for background information about almonds. This was very exciting for ABC and offered a great chance for staff to share information around grades and standards, how almonds are used in different foods and come in different forms, as well as current trends. This information, then, allows companies to be better prepared and have more successful interactions with California almond handlers moving forward.
Another opportunity had at Gulfood was the chance to leverage seminars with other groups. In fact, this year ABC organized a seminar with Russia manufacturers who attended the trade show to discuss how almonds can be used in different applications, have certain roasting characteristics and other important facts. The seminar allowed ABC to reconnect with the Russia region and key customers to discuss how trade with this country could develop moving forward.
Those with questions regarding ABC’s recent trip to Delhi and Dubai are welcome to contact Adams at jadams@almondboard.com.
Update: In the midst of Coronavirus (COVID-19), Almond Board staff, including members of the Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs and Global Market Development teams, are continuing to monitor activity across all California almond markets, such as India and Dubai. We will continue to provide updates on developments related to COVID-19.
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[1] Almond Almanac, 2019.
