According to the July 2019 Almond Board Position Report, shipments to Pakistan in the 2018/19 crop year were approximately 10 million pounds. This number is down slightly from the 2017/18 crop year, when the industry shipped a total 11.82 million pounds to the country. However, in a recent meeting with the Almond Board of California (ABC) key Pakistani buyers indicated their intent to increase purchases of California almonds – both directly from the U.S. and through Dubai – in the upcoming crop year.
On August 23, the Almond Board hosted a delegation of Pakistani nut buyers participating in USDA’s Cochran Tree Nuts Marketing Program. This federal program aims to share good agricultural practices common in the U.S. with friendly nations across the globe while also enhancing international trade with the countries represented by the participants. The program works closely with Fresno State University to provide hands-on training to participants from across the globe, and this year the Almond Board was invited to take part in the program by providing an update on global marketing and trade for the California almond industry.
During their visit to the ABC office, program participants first heard from Almond Board President and CEO Richard Waycott. Waycott addressed the importance of the Pakistani and broader South/Central Asian market for the California almond industry, and then moved to review current production estimates looking two, five, ten years into the future. ABC’s Harbinder Maan, associate director of Trade Marketing and Stewardship, then provided an in-depth review of ABC’s many global marketing development programs, focusing specifically on successful advertising campaigns and new product development trends.
Finally, ABC’s Principle Specialist in Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs Geoffrey Bogart gave participants an overview of how the Almond Board of California operates as a federal marketing order. Bogart also shared the top export markets for California almonds and addressed key, ongoing market access issues facing the industry on a global scale.
In addition to promising retail nut sales and increasing Pakistani interest in the California almond industry, Pakistan’s growing food processing and manufacturing industry increasingly needs quality California almonds. Pakistan is also experiencing an increase in its feed sector, so program participants were rather interested to learn the industry’s efforts to put all things grown in the orchard to optimal use, particularly its current research around potential almond hull utilization.
“Multi-generational Pakistani almond importers have been good friends of the California almond industry for decades. With a population of over 200 million and a growing middle class, California almond shipments to this country will continue to increase for years to come as consumption ramps up. ABC looks forward to assisting the Pakistani trade with nutritional and technical information to accelerate growth,” said Waycott.
Handlers looking to learn more about the current state of play on global trade and regulatory matters are invited to attend the session “Tariffs and Trade: Chaos Theory on a Global Level” at The Almond Conference 2019. The session will take place at 9:15-10:00 a.m. in Room 2. For more information and to register for the largest international almond industry event, industry members are encouraged to visit AlmondConference.com.
