Almond Trends

Your secret weapon for innovative and diverse menu development.

Almonds deliver as a versatile and functional ingredient, without sacrificing taste, texture or indulgence.

Bursting with the unique characteristics consumers crave, almonds are an incrediblevsource of inspiration for food professionals. Almonds offer culinarians a practical, plant-based ingredient that serves as a staple across different parts of the day, cuisines, and formats.

An exceptionally exciting way to build flavour and hearty texture, almonds’ various forms deliver on a wide variety of attributes. From almond butter and almond milk to the more traditional ingredient form like sliced, diced, chopped, slivered or whole,the opportunities for creative recipe development are endless. Moreover, almonds are a naturally “clean”ingredient, have a relatively long shelf life, and align with most current dietary trends (e.g., paleo, plant-based, vegan).

Almonds not only add the distinctive crunch and flavour that consumers crave but can also act as a substitute for other ingredients in dairy-free or gluten-free adaptations on your menu.

Unsurpassed versatility.

In the interest of brevity, we’ll just go ahead and give it to you straight: there isn’t much you can’t do with almonds in the kitchen. With so many unique almond forms and functions to choose from –they’re available in 15 different forms –almonds serve up virtually endless possibilities, and your next culinary masterpiece is the perfect place to start.



Whole

Whole almonds are the most frequently consumed form when it comes to snacking.



Almond Butter

Almond butter can work as a standalone spread or dip, as a layer, drizzle, or binder in bars cookies and bakery items, a thickener in beverages/smoothies and a filling or coating in confectionery products. Almond butter lends a healthy halo to formulations suited for all times of the day.



Meal or Flour

Both made from ground almonds, almond flour is typically made from blanched almonds and is ground more finely than almond meal. The coarser almond meal will give your product a more pronounced mouthfeel and texture, whereas almond flour has a lighter texture for delicate items like macarons.   

Use almond meal as a coating for snack bites or to add crunch and texture to a crusts, bars, and baked goods. Almond flour is a wholesome alternative to other flours and is a staple for gluten-free baking, as a sauce thickener or a key ingredient in crackers, breads and cereals.  



Defatted Almond Flour

Defatted almond flour is lower in calories and fat and higher in protein than regular almond flour or meal. This almond flour is simply almond flour with the oil removed. It has an extra-fine texture and clean taste which allows other ingredients to shine. Use this flour to add density to bars, as a substitute in crusts, or as a binder.

Natural or Blanched?

Whilst natural almond shave their skin still on, blanched means the skins have been removed through a process of scalding, skin removal, drying, cooling and sorting. Whole, meal, flour, sliced/flakes, slivers/halves, and diced/chopped almonds are all available natural or blanched. Roasting brings out the flavour and colour of blanched almonds, while natural almonds have the well-known nutty flavour and are suitable for all-around use.

Almond roasting.

Almond roasting emphasises the natural attributes of almonds –deepening the colour and flavour profile, and creating a crispier, crunchier texture. Remember to package almonds properly by removing oxygen from the packaging environment, either through nitrogen flushing or a vacuum. This will help provide a much longer shelf-life. Learn more here.