Pecans Cracking New Opportunities

Holiday demand is helpful, but pushing pecans year-round is the path to more sales.

Pecans are cracking new opportunities in the retail produce aisle. Traditionally tied to holiday desserts, the nut is now finding traction year-round, driven by health-conscious consumers, innovative flavors, and snackable formats. The category is evolving — and retailers are starting to take notice.

Industry leaders say the shift is driven by both market forces and consumer trends. Tess Mercado, founder and president of Nutridge Farms in Chino, CA, notes that rising pecan prices in the Golden State — partly due to agricultural labor disruptions — haven’t slowed demand for her premium, date-sugar–coated pecans, which are vegan and gluten-free.

Tiernan Paine, owner of Tree-Ripe Fruit Co. in Milwaukee, WI, points to strong enthusiasm for flavored and candied varieties, even as overall sales fluctuate with broader economic pressures. Meanwhile, Chris Large, sales manager at Torn & Glasser in Los Angeles, highlights a steady market for shelled pecans, particularly in ethnic and seasonal channels.

Pecans have traditionally had a seasonality aligned with the late-year holidays, Mercado says, so they can benefit from rolling with the right flavor at the right time. “Pumpkin spice season is going to be good.”

Tree-Ripe Fruit Co. takes a unique approach to selling produce to consumers, using multiple trucks to visit scheduled locations and selling to consumers directly from the vehicles. “What I have seen, and we’ve seen a lot of, is demand and interest in flavored and all the candied pecans,” Paine says. “All this is anecdotal, but the enthusiasm for those is still very strong. As a category, we’re still very optimistic that there’s some growth opportunities there.”

Large says it’s not that flavored product isn’t something the company sells, but demand for basic pecans is still relatively strong. “In-shell pecan is a seasonal thing,” he says. “We still sell a lot of in-shell pecans from September to December. We have a huge ethnic population, and in a lot of Latino stores, they want in-shell pecans.”

SELL BEYOND HOLIDAYS

Daniel Zedan, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Pecan Grove Farms, Batavia, IL, says holiday demand is helpful, but pushing everyday sales is the path to growth. “While the fall is traditionally the strongest sales quarter of the year, for the past several years, the industry has been focusing their marketing efforts on year-round uses, both domestically and overseas.”

“There has been a lot more interest in pecans from Gen Z and Millennials, who are looking for a healthier snack/diet alternative.”
— Daniel Zedan, Pecan Grove Farms, Batavia, IL

Serena Schaffner, chief marketing officer, American Pecan Council and American Pecan Promotion Board, Irving, TX, agrees opportunities exist in snacking, with critical demographics key to gains.

“Circana retail data tells us that pecans have grown by approximately 3.5% in the snacking category this year compared to last year, which is exciting and also on trend,” she says. “Consumers, particularly Millennials and Boomers, are looking at ways to snack nutritiously and nuts overall are a category that continues to deliver. Pecans don’t just taste good, but they’re good for you, easy to portion and are convenient to bring to work or pack for school lunches.”

UNEASY MARKET, BUT POTENTIAL

Zedan admits the pecan sector is somewhat mixed today, with any growth versus other nuts being minimal in part because of market conditions. “At the moment, the market is flat. While domestic consumption is up slightly, exports are down.”

“Pricing reacts to the economy, and all food prices have seen increases since 2021, including pecans,” notes Mary Mikelyn Bruorton, executive director of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, Tifton, GA. Specific to the pecan sector, input costs have increased and driven prices up.

In Georgia, however, pecans have enjoyed some significant traction, Bruorton says, in part due to aggressive marketing campaigns funded through the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, the Georgia Commodity Commission for Pecans, the American Pecan Council and American Pecan Promotion Board.

Pecans get the most use and recognition in states that produce them in large quantities, such as Georgia, Texas and New Mexico.

“Pecan pie as a Southern dessert staple is probably the most recognized pecan dish in, not only Southern cuisine, but traditional American fare, particularly around U.S. holidays,” Bruorton says.
Schaffner agrees that pecan-growing states, particularly in the South, have a higher-than-average consumption. However, she suggests that indicates opportunity exists elsewhere.

“We are beginning to focus more marketing efforts on the Northeast, as we see consumers there tend to reach for healthier snacks, and with our health benefits — good fats, low carbs, high antioxidants — we think we can appeal to those consumers.”

Bruorton says boosting recognition of pecans as a snack food lends to greater merchandising opportunities within the produce department. With many produce sections offering more products positioned as healthy snacks, from cut fruit to tub nuts, one result can be a greater pecan presence alongside fruits and vegetables.

MATCHING DEMAND FOR FLAVOR

Rachel Ercole, marketing director, Diamond Foods, Stockton, CA, says that flavor innovation can drive pecan success in the market.

“Flavor innovation is driving tremendous growth across all snack categories, especially in the snack nuts category,” she says.

“While unflavored pecans still represent about 60% of unit sales, flavored varieties are where the real
excitement is, as they’re growing at 33.5%.”
— Rachel Ercole, Diamond Foods, Stockton, CA

Ercole says pecans naturally lend themselves to sweet profiles, and Diamond is seeing strong performance in traditional sweet flavors, like pecan pie/praline, cinnamon, maple and honey. It recently introduced a Pecan Pie Snack Pecans flavor. “Sweet flavors represent 30% of unit sales and are growing 34.6% year-over-year.”

Diamond is also expanding into other flavor territories. “Our introduction of Sea Salt Snack Pecans has exceeded expectations, as salted varieties are up 481.7% versus last year, though still a small 0.4% of unit sales,” Ercole says. “There’s also growing interest in spicy flavors like Cajun, which are up 194% and represent 1% of sales. We’re even seeing fun, innovative flavors like Dill Pickle and Cherry Slurpee appearing in the broader snack nut category.”

Large says that, although value-added isn’t huge for Torn & Glasser, the company does do shelled chocolate, barbecue, and sometimes glazed varieties. Their butter toffee pecans are also a mainstay.

Pecans may be the next nut to break out, Large says, as companies turn to flavors, and as processors, including those making nut milks and butters, turn to them as the next opportunity, which is something that could raise the profile of the commodity to the benefit of produce department sales.