Page 82 - AMEFT Journal 2021-2

MARKET & NEWS
(Source: Pixabay; Image by PollyDot)
Planetary health as vital as personal health
As consumers start to prioritize pla- netary health as much as personal health, their expectations are increa- sing that food and ingredients tick both the 'good for me' and 'good for the planet' boxes. At Almond Board of California, they continue their pro- gress in sustainability programs which is highlighted by success of Pollinator Protection Plan. Seed grants that sup- port pollinator health and biodiversity are part of continued push by Cali- fornia almond industry to respond to consumer expectations for food that’s both healthy and responsibly grown.
More than ever, consumers are keen to know about both dietary benefits and the environmental im- pact of their food and drink choices. It is essential that manufacturers are knowledgeable about the ingredients they’re working with so they can feel good about using them.
Almonds are an in-demand ingre- dient and are growing in popularity amongst product developers who are keen to respond to consumer health
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demands. According to Innova Market Insights, almonds were the number one nut in new product introductions in Europe for the fifth consecutive year in 2019, and they now represent over 40% of all nut introductions in the region. Health claims were also observed more frequently on intro- ductions with almonds compared to total food introductions.
When it comes to sustainability, recent research highlights that con- sumers believe food producers are key actors in making the food system sustainable. For the California almond industry this consumer expectation is met by a commitment to continu- ous improvement, striving to grow almonds in better, safer and healthier ways so food professionals can feel good about using them in their pro- ducts.
In addition to setting out clear goals in areas such as water reduction and zero waste, honey bee health is also a priority for the California almond community who has invested in more
research in this area than any other US commodity.
Almond Board of California (ABC) announced its five-point Pollinator Protection Plan an year ago which sets out to expand the industry’s long- standing commitment to researching, protecting and improving bee health. Thanks to this plan, honey bees and native pollinators will find more fo- rage in California’s almond orchards this spring.
One of the five tenets of the Pollina- tor Protection Plan – increasing floral diversity on farms – led the Almond Board to create and fund the Bee+ Scholarship programme which provi- des grants to farmers to help offset the cost of planting forage and habi- tat in and around their orchards. This effort led to 135 new almond farmers joining Project Apism’s Seeds for Bees programme and added pollinator ha- bitat to 14,778 acres of almond or- chards, a 22 percent increase to the footprint of almond pollinator habitat in the last year.
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