The Walnut and Almond Growers Association of Georgia interviewed 180 farmers who harvested about 1,300 tons of almonds and 2,000 tons of walnuts (Chandler) from commercial orchards in 2022/23.
According to the survey, in 2023, farmers expect to harvest 2,000 tons of whole almonds and 3,000 tons of whole walnuts. In 2023, the estimated harvest of walnuts will be about 8,600 tons.
The demand and consumption of almonds in the Georgian market are low, which requires the search for new markets, – said Tornike Latatia, director of the Almond and Walnut Producers Association of Georgia, during a visit to the Business Morning program, EastFruit reports.
“Imports of almonds will lose their meaning from next year. The problem last year was the lack of processing capacity, so it wasn’t easy to deal with the logistics process, but this year it is planned to build at least two factories that will export almonds. The interest in our almonds from the Persian Gulf countries is quite large, and they offer us an attractive price. In addition, the factory also supplies crushed almonds to the market, which will completely replace imports,” he added.
According to EastFruit analysts, from May 2022 to April 2023, Georgia imported more than 1.3 thousand tons of almond kernels, 97% more than in the same period a year earlier, and 245 tons of in-shell almonds. The leading supplier of imported almonds to the Georgian market is still the United States (65%), but it is also worth noting the increase in supplies from Turkey (26%).
In addition, Tornike Latatia spoke about the export of walnuts and noted that it would take 2-3 years to develop exports. “Demand for walnuts in the existing market is very high. The country will take 2-3 years to fill imports and fully export the product. Last year, about 2,000 tons of walnuts were imported, so I think next year’s production will not be able to cover imports completely,” he says.
According to EastFruit analysts, imports of walnut kernels for the year (May 22-April 23) more than doubled and amounted to 1850 tons from Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. And Georgia was importing the in-shell walnut – 350 tons from Turkey and Chile.
The director of the Association of Almond and Walnut Producers also spoke about the profitability of the walnut and almond industry. “The sector is developing steadily; almonds and walnuts became relevant in Georgia 7-8 years ago. There were many problems in the process, but last year showed us that the investments made in this industry gave us actual figures in terms of harvest. The main problem in the industry was the lack of agronomic knowledge, and now this difficulty has been overcome, and farmers have already learned how to care for the plantations.”
For more information: east-fruit.com