AS the second largest global producer of almonds, Australia is poised to pounce on further trade opportunities.
This was one of the messages delivered at the 16th Australian Almond Conference in Glenelg, South Australia last October where some 350 delegates attended.
This year’s conference speakers focused on the entire supply chain from both a domestic and an international perspective.
South Australian minister for agriculture Leon Bignell welcomed visitors to South Australia and gave insights into his positive perspectives on Australian almonds.
“In June I was in India and met with a lot of the importers of almonds and they were very happy with what they were getting from Australia,” he said.
“They said the different seasons in California and Australia allowed them to get good fresh almonds pretty much all year round.”
His comments on the industry’s export success were echoed by the Almond Board of Australia’s
market development manager Joseph Ebbage in his address.
He said 75 per cent of the Australian crop is exported, making it a player on the world scene.
An estimated figure of $5.1 billion has been put on the global market for almonds, according to Select Harvests.
About 83 per cent of global supply comes from the US, the majority of which is grown in California.
India, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the Middle East are all key destinations for Aussie almonds.
“Suffice to say, we’ve just seen some unbelievable, significant growth,” Mr Ebbage said.
“In terms of our domestic sales we’ve been averaging about 10 per cent increase on our sales per annum.
“Twenty-seven (27pc) per cent of all our exports go to India. Our single largest region is Europe at 42pc of our exports, followed by the Middle East and Africa.
“But I would point out to you that there are seriously large opportunities in Asia for us. Only 3pc of our exports go to North East Asia and 3pc go to South East Asia.”
Other speakers included Dr Sze Yen Tan from the University of South Australia who spoke on nutrition research and Richard Waycott of the Almond Board of California who gave an update from a Californian perspective.
Topics such as the use of robotics within orchards, productivity research and development, tree development, food safety, nut storage, plus pest and disease issues were also covered.
The Australian almond crop is forecasted to be a record 78,600 tonnes in 2014.
The Gala Dinner, which honoured some of the key industry contributors, was held at the Morphettville Racecourse.
