Historically speaking, Australia has seen a much higher nut consumption per capita than the United Kingdom. However, nominally, the United Kingdom consumes a larger quantity of nuts. For this reason, it is important to look at growth rates when comparing the evolution of these two markets.
Over the past decade, data from Nuts for Life and Eurostat, via HIS Markit Inc., show that the Australian nut industry growth rate is about double the growth rate of the United Kingdom. One major difference between these two markets is how the health and nutrition benefits of nuts have been disseminated. In Australia, the nut industry has launched aggressive campaigns to circulate the health benefits of nuts and this has proven to be instrumental in the rapidly increasing growth rate of the entire nut industry. Australia has gathered and shared health information with health professionals and regulators and according to Nuts for Life, per annum, the Australian nut industry contributes around A$250,000 towards this cause. The total investment over the past ten years, including government contributions, is between A$3 million and A$4.5 million. This investment has substantially increased the value of the entire industry and suggests that investing in the dissemination of health and nutrition benefits can bring in quite the return. Looking at the data from Nuts for Life, had Australia seen growth rates similar to that of the United Kingdom, it can be estimated that the total value would be A$550 million instead of the actual value, A$750 million.
Figure 1. Australian Tree Nut* Consumption at Trade Prices 2002/2003-2018/2019
As can be seen in Figure 1, both the volume of consumption (metric tons) and the industry size ($A millions) have been increasing, but interesting to note is that the industry value is actually growing at a faster pace than the volume of consumption. This gives evidence that the demand for nuts in Australia is swelling and that customers are prepared to pay more to consume nuts. This willingness can stem from the value they place on the health and nutrition benefits that they gain from consuming nuts.
While the entire nut industry in Australia has benefited from the dissemination of the health benefits, almonds, in particular, have enjoyed considerable success over the last decade. As noted in Figure 2, the consumption of almonds has grown 168% since the inception of Nuts for Life in 2003. This significant growth can also be attributed in part to the diffusion of information on the health benefits.
Figure 2. Australian Almond Consumption at Trade Prices 2002/2003-2018/2019
In conclusion, the results from Mr. Joyce’s research suggest that investing in health campaigns to promote the nutritious benefits of nuts can lead to increased consumption, as well as increasing the value of the nut industry.