Almonds are known as being one of the healthiest nuts on the planet, but did you know all of the ways an almond can be used? This versatile ingredient has been a staple in many people’s diets for a long time. Companies have recently been using nuts in many presentations, from plant-based milk, puffs, and even skin products. Hear more about this trend from Emily Fleischmann, Vice President, Global Market Development at California Almonds.
Joey Thurman:
Welcome to "Talking Plant Protein." We're not going to do too many nut puns, but we're going to crush it, and we're going to maybe not crack as many jokes. Emily.
Emily:
I'm going to leave the nut puns to you, Joey.
Joey Thurman:
All right. Now you represent almond's, right. So tell me about your job role and specifically what you do?
Emily:
Yeah, so I work at the Almond Board of California, which is a nonprofit that supports the entire industry of almond growers. And there are over 7,000 almond growers in California. We grow over 80% of the world's production right here, in about 500 miles. It's pretty impressive.
Joey Thurman:
Really?
Emily:
Yeah.
Joey Thurman:
Wow. That's a lot of almonds. Almonds is actually one of my favorite nuts. When I was a kid, my parents wanted me to eat like more fruits and vegetables and whatever, and like, oh, maybe have some nuts. So that was one of the more like healthy things I started going to. Because growing up in Wisconsin.
Emily:
Almonds?
Joey Thurman:
It was like cheese and fried things. I know this is "Talking Plant Protein", but I've gotten much healthier in my elder age, if you will. All right. Now coming up, you're speaking at Future Food-Tech in March. So what's the focus of your discussion?
Emily:
Yeah. So I'm going to be on a panel at Future Food-Tech, it's called functional ingredients, creating accessible and nutrient dense foods. So during the panel, we're going to talk about rationale behind choosing the ingredients that developers put in functional foods. And what's the biggest challenge as it relates to ensuring accessibility, both the product development side and the consumer side for functional foods. And then we'll also hit upon some consumer trends like immunity and gut wellness, focus foods, and kind of what happens when we're looking to focus there as a product development side.
Joey Thurman:
Yeah. And when you look at almonds, it's one of those things where it seems to be a little bit more forward thinking. Where you've got these potential alternatives in the food market. I mean, almond cheeses, almond milks, and I'm sure there's almond meats and all sorts of different things. So can you talk about these things and why almond seem to be a little bit more forgiving as far as an alternative food or plant protein, if you will?
Emily:
Yeah.I think it has a lot to do with just the love we see of almonds. So at the Almond Board, we market almonds across the globe. And regardless of where you go, you see elements of familiarity and love of almonds. And I think that really helps when product developers are looking to make innovations more approachable. So California Almonds, they actually, you probably know this, are one of the few natural ingredients that meet the diverse needs in an RND professional. So whether they're looking to drive taste, texture, or utility within their manufacturing process. And then have something that blends both with sweet and sweet reformulations, almonds are a simple and natural way that they can do that. And then on top of it, they're available in 14 forms. So if you're a product developer, knowing that you can easily call up and get butter or paste, or milk, it's a big deal.
Joey Thurman:
Yeah. And 14? I had no idea there were 14 forms of different ways you can use almonds. I'm sure you guys are working on even more representing that many different almond growers. But as far as diets, like different forms of diets and everybody seems to be on something different. And what types of diets do almonds fit into?
Emily:
So especially when we look at plant based, almonds fit in several types of diets. So you've got keto, full 30, vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, reducetarian. I was just explaining to my husband yesterday, what those were. Gluten free, dairy free, and clean label, almonds just suit all of them. And it really comes down to the versatility of the almond itself with all those different forms and then the strong nutritional profile.
Emily:
So it makes them favorable, whether you're doing product development or recipe development. And so whether it's ketogenic, or even looking for adult in some of those places, there's no sacrifice of flavor, or nutrition working with almonds.
Joey Thurman:
Yeah. I mean, I see it in pretty much every single diet, right? Like you said, with keto, paleo, plant base. You see almond as being sometimes more of a base now, as opposed to just kind of a side option, so it's really interesting to see that. As far as innovation with almonds. What's next and what can we look forward to?
Emily:
You know, Joey, I don't know. And I'm so excited though, for what's to come. I'm going to share with you a couple things we've kind of played around with, with some of our partners. But they just provide a lot of inspiration to developers and we talked about plant based and protein.
Emily:
But one of the spaces that's super exciting to me is this area of skin and gut health and permissible indulge. So, almonds are this traditional ingredient, you kind of mentioned that earlier. But they also really allow for a lot of innovation beyond the basics. So as we know, there're more consumer demand for almonds. We see it both in the kernels and then we see it in new product introductions that we track. And we know that new product introductions continue to rise with almonds across the globe and all the markets that we track.
Emily:
And so that really helps a lot when developers are looking at innovation. But skin health specifically, we see some CPG companies trying some fun things. So ReThink Ice Cream and Wild Friends, are two different companies, they're using almond forms like milk and butter to combine it with collagen. And collagen, as you know, has skin benefits like strengthening skin elasticity, beautiful hair, nails. And then you add the almond. Yes, I'm sure you're very... Keep to the collagen in your diet. But you add the almonds to it and then you get a nutritional boost, because you're adding in protein and fiber. Plus we have half of a recommended daily requirement for vitamin E within a serving of almonds. So you're also adding other skin benefits to it, as it relates to that. Helps protect your cells from the damaging effects of free radicals, from pollution, or cigarette smoke, or other environmental factors. And so it's a really amazing pairing. And I'm excited to see where it's going to go.
Emily:
And then when you look across innovation, we don't do any development work at the Almond Board. So a lot of companies that are part of the industry or other supply chain partners do most of it, but we do partner with companies to come just help showcase what almonds could do. And we partnered with CoLinx recently and they are food product development consulting firm. And I loved the two examples that I'm going to share with you, because it just showed this spectrum. So one was this almond baked protein poof, and it took protein powder and flour and so it allowed it to be like a really functional fuel. And they extruded it and baked it, and it just became like this canvas that then you could apply all sort of crave able flavors too. So whether it was cocoa brownie flavor, or cinnamon roll, or even like something on the spicy, like mango and ancho chili, it was awesome and delivered on that taste and health spectrum.
Emily:
And then on the skin health side, imagine a gummy fruit snack that had almond in it. So using that almond oil with that, those essential fatty acids and polyphenols and vitamin E, it really allows you to have a skin health focused product. And so their idea was taking a cranberry, or pomegranate, or sweet cherry gummy and filling it with a flavored almond oil. So it could kind of deliver both on skin health while you get that nostalgic snacking experience.
Joey Thurman:
Wow. From poofs, to gummies, to skin health, almond's got it covered. So Emily, where can people find out more about your organization?
Emily:
Well, if you want to go to almonds.com, you can learn a lot about the nutritional profile of almonds as well as the overall industry. And I'm looking forward to seeing everybody as well at Future Food-Tech on March 24th. We'll be at the panel on functional ingredients, creating accessible and nutrient dense foods. Hope to see everybody there.
Joey Thurman:
Sounds great. I know everybody will tune in and I appreciate you coming on. I kept the puns to a minimum. Thanks for coming on Talking Plant Protein.
Emily:
Thank you, Joey. Have a great day.