Consumer demand for healthier products is nothing new. The same nuts and berries that fed the earliest hunters and gatherers can provide a significant health boost to manufacturers' products today.
US firms, driven in part perhaps by the popularity of traditional staples such as peanut butter, have long since acknowledged the benefits of those old stalwarts, peanuts and almonds. However, take up in Europe of new ways for manufacturers to harness the health potential of nuts has been slow, say leading suppliers.
Some might argue that they would they have a vested interest in driving up EU sales. What's fascinating is that interest from European manufacturers is also rising dramatically. And that might just indicate an idea whose time has now finally come.
Increasing use of nuts
Peanuts and almonds have been the subjects of extensive studies into their respective health benefits. As a result, both are the focus of generic industry wide claims awaiting the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA's) approval, under the EU health claims Regulation.
Three claims relating to heart health and weight management benefits have been submitted under Article 13.2 (generic health claims from Member States) of the Regulation relating to peanuts, two of which also cover almonds and other nuts. This may not sound like much, but it does demonstrate a certain level of interest.
Meanwhile, the popularity of nuts continues to grow. Last year, almost 700 new almond products were introduced in Europe alone, accounting for almost a third of new nut products in total, according to Mintel's Global New Product Introductions Report. While peanuts as an ingredient were worth $1,882M (£1.19bn) last year and are projected to increase to a value of $1,941M (£1.22bn) this year, according to market research group Datamonitor.
The use of nuts as an ingredient in Europe has been steadily growing over the past five years and this can be put down to increased consumer awareness, says a spokeswoman for the Almond Board of California. A recent study by the organisation of 3,000 consumers in the UK, Germany and France found that two thirds of them considered products with almonds more nutritious than those without the nut. The respondents also demonstrated high awareness of the specific nutritional benefits of almonds.
Health benefits
As consumers re-educate themselves on the different types of fat and cholesterol, they are progressively jettisoning the image of peanuts as unhealthy snack foods found in pubs and bars. They may not yet be reaching the 'superfood' status of things like blueberries, soy beans and açai berries. But they are at least considered to be in the same ball park.
"Peanuts were once considered unhealthy due to misconceptions over unsaturated fat as part of a healthy diet," says the American Peanut Council's European director, Louise McKerchar.
More and more studies are coming out showing the benefits of almonds and peanuts in areas such as heart health and weight control. Studies of peanuts and almonds have shown increased satiety in consumers, making these foods prime candidates for inclusion in healthy snacks and meal replacement bars.
This cause is also supported by their large protein content. The Almond Board of California is quick to point out that almonds have the highest protein content of all tree nuts, while McKerchar adds that diet and nutrition bar makers are especially keen on peanuts because of their high protein content and potential for slow energy release.
New Product development
An increasingly popular way to include peanuts in products is the use of peanut flour. Although it was introduced to the European market a few years ago, it is only now that manufacturers are really beginning to notice the uses for the product says McKerchar.
Peanut flour is not generally tracked as a separate ingredient from peanuts according to a spokeswoman for Mintel. This makes it hard to calculate the extent of new product development specifically around the area of peanut flour.
"It is hard to say how many [new products] are coming out exactly, but there are dozens each month," says Bruce Kotz, vice president of speciality products at US firm Golden Peanut Company. "Many are from smaller companies. We are seeing a very heavy period of sampling from peanut flours."
In the US, Kellogg's has a number of healthy protein bars in its Special K range and General Mills has a low calorie oat snack bar made by Quaker. However, in Europe neither company currently sells products using peanut flour according to spokesmen from the two organisations. "They are both launching new peanut flour-containing products in the months to come," says Kotz.
"I feel this is due to the popularity of peanut butter flavoured items in the US and maybe the currently limited popularity in the EU."
However, the use of peanut flour in European products still lags behind that of the US. Kotz believes the reasons behind this are two-fold.
Traditionally the American palette has always been more in tune with peanuts. "In the US peanut flavoured nutritional bars are usually the largest selling flavour," he says. "We are also seeing a lot of peanut butter coatings and drops in nutritional bars and snack bars, which are the largest two uses for peanut flour."
peanut flour hurdles
Kotz also sees its status as a major allergen that can contaminate entire plants as a reason why some processors are hesitant to introduce peanuts. "We typically see resistance from companies that do not have nuts in their plant today. Many of them will find a co-packer that may produce a peanut flour-containing product for them if they do not want to bring peanuts into their facility," he says.There are also specific processing hurdles that are deterring companies from tapping into peanut flour. Because of its lack of gluten, it does not rise like a normal flour and as a result could not be used in many baking products except as part of a mix, for example . It also has a strong peanut taste, which may not be good depending on what the manufacturer is hoping to achieve with a product.
The flour comes in a number of different roasting grades, as well as fat reduction levels, with changes in colour and intensity of flavour depending on the grade. And, on the subject of concerns about fat content, it comes in two forms, one containing 12% fat and one containing 28% fat, both of which are all below that of peanut butter, and like all peanut products, are cholesterol and trans-fat free.
The majority of peanuts and almonds are produced in the US and China. This obviously means European manufacturers need to think through import issues. Against that, however, the strength of the euro versus the dollar has helped to keep prices for both low. In addition, improvements in international supply as well as a 4% increase in production from 30Mt to 31Mt across the globe have meant peanut prices have fallen, according to data provider Mintec. Lotz says that the availability of peanut flour also should not be a problem as stock and availability are high.
Almond production is up too. This year's California crop is forecast to come in at 0.75bn kilograms for 2010, a 17% increase over 2009.
The writer and Irish funnyman Dara O'Briain once said that originally all medicine was "herbal medicine".
Then we tested it all and the stuff that worked became "medicine", while the rest of it may as well be summed up as "just a nice bowl of soup and some potpourri".
Which is true. A bowl of nuts will not even cure the common cold. However, there is mounting scientific support and consumer awareness to suggest nuts can provide a healthy ingredient to any food product and help guard against heart ailments and obesity.
And as the number of new products that utilise them keeps rising, it looks like Europe may well be waking up to that fact.
CRANBERRY FACTFILE
Cranberries are rapidly becoming the 'must have' snack ingredient, despite failing a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific opinion on the benefits of cranberry products to people with urinary tract infections.
A spokesman for the US Cranberry Marketing Committee, Toby Stapleton says the UK has traditionally been one of the biggest export markets for cranberries. However, demand is also rising in Germany, now the second largest European market (third worldwide behind the UK and Canada) and France, third (fifth worldwide behind Australia), he says.
This is because of the growth in consumer awareness of their health benefits, says Stapleton. And with exports exceeding 175,000 100lb barrels for 2009/10 in Germany alone, last year's EFSA ruling has clearly not sated European appetite for the bog berry.
Ocean Spray is leading the charge, having added two new 'mimics' to its BerryFusions line cherry and pomegranate bringing the total to seven. The range now includes strawberry, raspberry, cherry, blueberry and mango. BerryFusions consists of dried cranberries infused with juices from other fruits, allowing the cranberries to mimic more expensive or fragile ingredients.
Their versatility is also making cranberries appealing. The red fruit has adapted perfectly to modern manufacturing. "You can use cranberries in a variety of ways in the manufacturing process, in dried, sweetened, fruit-sweetened, unsweetened, powdered and sauce form," says Stapleton.
EFSA is reviewing France's pre-existing cranberry health claim and a positive decision would be a boon, but not a necessary one says Stapleton. If it fails there are plans for a generic industry-wide claim to be submitted.