The French nut campaign has started earlier this year than usual. Now, in the meantime, the full product range is available, observes a buyer and seller of a pick-up market in the Rhineland. "The walnut season traditionally start off with rather high prices, but currently the sales are very good already."
About two weeks ago, the first French walnuts and chestnuts arrived at the German traders, about two weeks earlier than normal. Later, the peanuts followed and then, finally, hazelnuts completed the assortment less than a week ago. The walnuts are at a fairly high price level of about €43 / 10 kg, while the peanuts of established brand Blauer Jumbo are quite stable according to the retailer, as is the case almost every year.
Peanuts of the Blauer Jumbo brand are currently at €15.75 to 17.00 / 2.5 kg. The prices are expected to drop oof slightly by Christmas, below €15.00 / 2.5kg.
High proportion of large caliber walnuts
Parallel to the high-priced market situation, a relatively high proportion of large-size walnuts characterizes the current market situation. These are in great demand among the pick-up customers of the Leverkusen cash & carry market: "There are currently 28+ to 38 millimeters calibers in fairly large quantities, which is why the price does not matter to the customer. This also applies to hazelnuts of the Koki label, which are traded mainly in the calibers 22+ and 24+. They tend to be selling quite quickly."
France is still the most important country of origin when it comes to nuts: nevertheless, occasionally related goods are sourced from other countries as well. Walnuts are sometimes brought in from Hungary, chestnuts come in from Turkey, Spain and Italy. Only last year saw beautiful products coming in from China. But as a rule, the lion's share of nuts comes from the French. "France simply has the best reputation. When anyone says nuts, they say France. The French massively stand out in the sense of pure quality," says the German trader. Quality, however, has a higher price. In the case of chestnuts, one will have to pay a surcharge of one euro per kilogram.
Left: Chestnuts are currently sourced exclusively from France. Later in the season, however, other sources will be added depending on their availability. Right: Hazelnuts are currently traded at €5.50-5.60 / kg: It is expected that prices will fall to around €5.00 / kg by Christmas.
Sales doubling
Nuts are still an item that is typically connected to Christmas, any traders will tell you when being asked. Sales are expected to rise sharply over the month of December, a trader says. "I would say that the sales will have doubled again by then."
This is true not only for nuts, but also for dates and dried fruits. "We can supply Medjoul dates from Israel 12 months a year, but from the beginning of December the demand will rise again. Dried fruits of any shape - dried ginger, papaya or mango - are also in demand throughout December."