“As an industry, we have been fortunate to develop a year-round consumption trend with consumers” for California-grown almonds and walnuts, said Matt Mariani, who oversees sales and marketing activities for Mariani Nut Co. in Winters, CA.

“But we are still fortunate to have that key holiday selling season for the nuts” due to their “many traditional uses and applications” during that period. “We get a nice pump during the holiday time,” really starting with “back-to-school” in September and continuing “all the way through the end of the year.”

The arrival of cooler weather “kicks off the baking season,” which is one factor that gives nuts a lift during that period, he said.

Mariani Nut grows, packs and markets California walnuts and California almonds. and also sources and markets pecans from various parts of the United States. Also, Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and “other cultural holidays” during that period are all traditional times for nut consumption, so “we see a nice run through that whole time period.”

Matt MarianiWhen The Produce News talked to Mariani Oct. 16, the 2013 harvest was nearing completion. “We are actually right at the tail end of both our almond and walnut crop,” he said. “Everything was a little bit early this year, which was a positive, so we [have been able] to harvest the crops without any major weather events or interruptions to negatively impact the harvest or the quality.”

In the almond category, “we haven’t gotten our final crop size,” Maraini said, but he expected an average size crop. Final figures on tonnage would be available in a few weeks.

“On the walnut side, we are more than three-fourths through the harvest, which will be probably one of the earliest completions to a walnut harvest we have had as a company in some time,” he said. One reason is that the tonnage coming in was lighter than expected. “We are forecasting right now” a crop down 10 to 20 percent from a year ago. He expected the industry-wide harvest to be lighter than the earlier forecast for the state.

Strong demand from overseas markets for both almonds and walnuts continues, Mariani said. In addition, there has been continued strong domestic demand “driven by health research that is being done and the positive health attributes” associated with the products.

As a company, “we are doing more value-added type products,” he said. “But still, to date, for us as a company and for the industry, when you look at the national data, it is the natural items that remain the top sellers. I think it is the health attributes that are driving that strength in the traditional natural items.”

While Mariani Nut Co. does not create any special packs for the holiday season, “certainly the greatest variation we see” in the way nuts are merchandised at retail during the fourth quarter of the year, vs. the first three quarters, is “a huge increase” in the use of display-ready cases in the stores.

At Mariani Nut, “we have a few different options” for display-ready product, Mariani said. Among them are “floor pallet-type displays and stand-up shipper-type displays. The interest in those two options increases dramatically with our customers for the holiday period.”

While some retailers bring in the floor-ready displays “as a kind of turn-key approach,” he said, “we also see other retailers that bring in the regular cases and do a great job in creating their own displays.