FEBRUARY was a big month for Australia’s almond marketers, with two important overseas events. The Australian Almonds brand was promoted at the Nuts and Dry Fruits Council (India) event in Mumbai called MEWA, and at Gulfood in Dubai. Almondco, Murray Downs Almonds, Nut Producers Australia, ofi and Select Harvests participated in the trade missions. Two meeting rooms were built into the Australian Almonds booths at MEWA and Gulfood, giving marketers the opportunity to have private conversations with buyers. ABA Chief Executive Officer Tim Jackson said these are significant events for the Australian almond industry. “Across the two events, the industry’s marketers would have collectively transacted deals in excess of $100 million as they kick off their 2025-26 sales campaigns,” he said.
MEWA, 12-14 February
Sumit Saran and his team from SS Associates supported Australian Almonds presence at MEWA. India now has its own almond chair, similar to the one that was revealed at the Australian Almond Conference in October. It was a drawcard to the trade booth, with lots of people stopping by for photos. Select Harvests’ Ekrem Omar participated in the almond roundtable, providing the international audience with an insight into the Australian almond industry. The Australian Almonds team also played three games of cricket in the MEWA Premier League, with representatives from the Australian Macadamia Society and Austrade also donning the gold uniform. The side was in high spirits after beating California, making up for the loss in 2024. Mr Jackson said Australian almonds sales into India for 2024 set a new volumetric record of just under 28,000 tonnes. “This is a direct result of a new trade agreement that offers a 50% duty reduction on the first 34,000 imported from Australia,” he said. “The 2024 record sales further highlighted the need for upcoming trade negotiations to include lifting the existing tariff quota to at least 70,000 tonnes.”
TOP: The Australian Almonds cricket team at the MEWA Premier League
ABOVE: There are now two almond chairs. A second has been constructed for the Indian market and will be used at Australian Almonds promotional events.
Gulfood, 17-21 February
Gulfood is the world’s largest food and beverage expo and it has been running for 30 years. Almost 100,000 people from 195 countries attended, making their way around 5,000 stalls. A giant image of Murray the almond kangaroo was on the wall of the trade booth and lots of people stopped for photos. The Australian Almonds industry event at the Novotel pool on the evening of Day 3 drew a crowd of 100 people. This year there was a focus on engaging with Middle Eastern customers, but almond buyers from India and other parts of the world were also in attendance. Dash Dharwan, the CEO of Food Specialities Limited and Shaji Mathew the Managing Director of Spring Valley General Trading took part in a question and answer session with ABA CEO Tim Jackson giving the crowd an insightful perception of the Australian almond industry.
ABA CEO Tim Jackson ran a Q&A session with Shaji Mathew from Spring Valley General Trading and Dash Dharwan from Food Specialities Limited at the Australian Almonds industry event at the Novotel on the evening of Day 3 at Gulfood.
TOP: Ben Fessey from ofi and Jack Loh from Murray Downs Almonds responding to customer inquiries at Gulfood.
ABOVE: At Gulfood are Brenton Woolston - Almondco, Jake Langdon – Almondco, Paul Stewart – Almondco, Mark Williamson – Nut Producers Australia, Tom Cooper – Almond Board of Australia, Aashay Chavan – Select Harvests. Seated from left to right are: Mimi Doan – Hort Innovation, Tim Jackson – Almond Board of Australia, Melissa Wyness – Almond Board of Australia.
Looking ahead
Gulfood will be held at the end of January in 2026 and is set to be split across two sites, making it twice as large. The date for next year’s MEWA is January 22 to 25 in Delhi. The ABA’s marketing team is now focusing on bringing Indian almond buyers to Australia later this month and this will be followed by a delegation from China in April. Both groups will visit almond processors and see the crop being harvested.