Almonds are the most popular nut in new product introductions across Europe for the fourth consecutive year. According to Innova Market Insights, there were over 4,800 new product introductions with almonds in Europe in 2018, representing 45 % of all new product introductions with almonds globally. The Almond Board of California (ABC) says that this popularity is due to almonds’ versatility and ability to tap into trends including clean label and plant-based foods.

As well as being the top nut for European snacks, almonds are also popular in confectionery, which is the top category for al-mond introductions (27 %). Bakery is the second most popular category for new almond product introductions (17 %). Meanwhile, the cereal category has seen the strongest growth for almonds (8 %). Globally, almonds are experiencing double-digit year-over-year growth in specialty categories such as desserts and ice cream (+10 %), dairy (+13 %), spreads (+29 %) and sports nutrition (+95 %), according to Innova Market Insights.