For chefs and food product development professionals looking for ways to creatively respond to the latest culinary trends, almonds continue to inspire, garnering recognition as the favorite ingredient nut among foodservice and consumer packaged food industries in an online quantitative research study.

The Almond Board of California (ABC) commissioned the Sterling Rice Group (SRG) to analyze what drives these culinary experts to incorporate nuts into menu items and new products. SRG surveyed 388 foodservice and consumer packaged food professionals in 2007, among whom, 212 used nuts in new product development over the past year. Respondents represented a wide range of occupations across both foodservice and package food industries, and more than 50 percent had over 15 years of culinary service. Across both segments, almonds were selected as the preferred nut ingredient 31 percent of the time, outpacing all other nuts.

Industry professionals also perceived almonds to be one of the healthiest nuts, with 31 percent of those surveyed identifying the health benefits of almonds as one of the reasons why the nut is their favorite. In fact, 33 percent of respondents ranked the health attributes of almonds as an extremely important reason to add them to new products, and 44 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat believed that almonds are the most nutrient-dense nut. Nearly three-fourths recognized that consumers are willing to pay more for items with healthy ingredients.

Nuts as ingredients continue to be a sustainable trend among food professionals. In the last year, 57 percent of the respondent incorporated nuts into a new product or menu item, and 60 percent of the same survey sample introduced almonds. Of the 43 percent of professionals who did not use nuts in new items, allergy concerns, food safety issues and cost were among the most common reasons cited.

About the Research: The intent of the research was to establish a baseline study among the volume-driver target, measuring current awareness of almonds; attitudes toward nut and almond usage; and the usage of almonds across the foodservice and consumer packaged food sectors. The strict data criteria required survey respondents to be skilled, with a minimum of five years of experience, and currently employed as a research chef, food technologist or marketing professional in the consumer packaged food sector, or as a foodservice research chef or executive chef in the fast-food, fast-casual or casual restaurant channel. Campus dining chefs also were included in the survey data.

Research Source: The Sterling-Rice Group, Boulder, Colo., 2007. U.S. Volume Driver Attitudes, Awareness and Usage of California Almonds.

The Almond Board of California
Modesto, Calif.