Almond Board of California’s (ABC’s) consumer marketing program as we think of it today began almost 20 years ago. At that time, almonds were considered an unhealthy food. We’ve come a long way since then. Today, almonds are touted for health benefits and are an on-trend ingredient, being the most preferred nut for global new-product introductions since 2012.1
During this time, the California Almond crop has grown by 1.5 billion pounds. That’s a 417% increase — from 366 million pounds to 1.9 billion pounds. Over the next three to four years, we anticipate an incremental 500 million pounds of additional production. Protecting the markets we have created and generating additional demand for almonds would be challenging even in a perfect world.
But there is a plan. Through our global demand analysis, ABC has a process to focus and prioritize our investments. Currently, ABC executes programs in eight different countries. The prioritization and investment are overseen by the Global Market Development Committee (GMDC). Programs currently exist in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, China and South Korea. As we look to the future, we consider both new markets and expansion in these current markets.
Adding New Markets
When it comes to adding new markets, it takes time to determine which opportunities to focus on, and time for the marketing efforts to cultivate demand. We also know that one market alone cannot absorb the expected crop increase, so we are using our trusted process to help us focus and prioritize work in the markets that will have the greatest impact.
In 2016, we conducted a market opportunity assessment for Japan. As a result of that assessment, we are in the process of building out a trade and consumer public relations program for the GMDC to review this spring. And, we are currently evaluating an investment in Mexico. A team recently returned from that country as part of our market opportunity assessment work. Much like Japan, we will be sharing a recommendation for Mexico to the GMDC this spring. We continue to monitor Brazil as an exploratory market for future program considerations.
Expansion in Current Markets
While we want to continue to look for opportunities in new countries, we also are aware there is continued growth upside in many of the countries we currently invest in. With that in mind, we are already expanding our investment in the U.S. to increase our reach with the millennial consumer. In India, we’ve added advertorials and additional public relations programs to ensure we keep up with the demand coming from that market. In addition, we expanded our program in Germany after research uncovered an opportunity to capitalize on the relatively new snacking culture. To date, we’ve only had a small PR program there.
The dramatic rise in production we are expecting has to be met with a dramatic proactive response on the marketing side, to ensure market demand grows to absorb the additional volume. That is exactly what is happening as we plan for crop year 2017–18, which starts on August 1, 2017. We will confront the evolving challenges in the industry, continue to invest our resources to best support the almond supply coming online, and wisely allocate the money entrusted to the Board by almond growers.
