California’s walnut growers looking to tap Indian demand

The Dollar Business Bureau

California Walnut Commission (CWC), a US-based umbrella organisation of over 4,000 walnut growers in the western part of the US, has decided to unveil a mega campaign in India to promote walnuts in the country.

The association is looking to educate people in both urban and rural areas, besides also talking to bakeries, departmental stores, food chains, nutritionists and chefs to educate them about the nutritional value of walnut, thus promoting walnut as a health product in one of the world’s largest market.

The CWC exported 6,600 metric tonnes of walnut to India last year, while India’s domestic production of walnuts stood at 33,000 metric tonnes in 2015-16. Now, with the growing demand for health products in India, the CWC is now aiming to achieve about 30% growth rate over the next five years. India, China, Germany and Japan are some of the major export markets for California walnut growers. And with the impressive growth rate of Indian economy, these exporters have decided to focus more on tapping the Indian market demand.

“We are quite optimistic about the Indian market and that is why we are carrying out a major campaign to reach out to various segments of consumers across rural and urban India,” India representative of CWC Keith Sunderlal told Indian media. Sundarlal said the campaign will bring together bakeries, food chains and restaurants and will encourage them to include walnut in their product lines.

Approximately 35% of walnut exports are shelled, and the remaining 65% are exported in-shell.

In the US market, however, about 95% of shipments are shelled walnuts, while only 5% remain in-shell.