Nuts in the United Arab Emirates

2020 IMPACT

Foodservice sales negatively affected by lockdown restrictions

Due to the temporary closures of consumer foodservice venues in 2020 to combat the spread of COVID-19, the demand for nuts was much reduced. Nuts remain a popular option in bars and hotels, so with these closed and consumers less unwilling to visit following lockdown, volume sales were negatively affected.

Heightened health consciousness boosts retail demand for nuts

Over the review period, consumption of nuts had progressively been growing due to the category’s favourable image as a healthy snack option between meals. In 2020, consumers’ health consciousness had been heightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus retail consumption for coconut, peanut, almond, pistachio, walnut and hazelnut continued to increase.

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Competition from packaged nuts expected to be limited due to higher prices and modern channels dedicating space to unpackaged nuts

Competition from packaged nuts is set to remain high over the forecast period, as they are often combined with pleasing ingredients such as dried fruits, chocolate, and yoghurt, and sold as packaged snacks. As consumers return to the busy lifestyles they enjoyed pre-pandemic, on-the-go snacks are likely to gain popularity again, with packaged nuts benefitting from this.

Coconuts expected to return to strong performance as foodservice recovers

Foodservice sales of nuts are expected to normalise in 2022 and continue growing beyond as consumers foodservice operators slowly recover from the impact of the pandemic. They remain popular snacks in bars and hotels and as consumers become more comfortable visiting these venues again, volume sales will continue to grow.