Nuts are the richest category of horticulture, and the international nut trade is the most valued of all fruit group products. This was stated by Andriy Yarmak, Economist of the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) during the unique international conference “Nuts of Ukraine 2022: exchange of experience with Georgia” held on November 19, 2022, in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Yarmak noted that the global trade in nuts in 2021 reached $32 billion: “Ukraine is one of the world’s leading exporters of walnuts, and Georgia is one of the world’s largest consumers of walnuts per capita. Walnuts in Georgia are added to many traditional dishes.”
“In addition, walnut production in Georgia has recently been growing at a tremendous pace using the most modern technological approaches. In Ukraine, hazelnuts have been the leader among all perennial orchards in terms of laying new orchards in recent years, and Georgia is one of the world’s largest exporters of hazelnuts. Therefore, the two countries can learn a lot from each other, which was the reason for organizing this Ukrainian conference in Georgia.”
Yarmak stated that to analyse the global nut market, we should consider not only walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios, but also those nuts that have long been a niche for our region, and those that are not nuts in a botanical sense but refer to nuts from the consumer’s point of view. Namely, peanuts must be included in the analysis of the nut market – they are the main competitor of other nuts in supermarkets and in various snacks.
Source: east-fruit.com