In February, eight thieves made off with seven tonnes of pine nuts – worth £300,000 – from a factory in Vado Ligure, near Genova in Italy. With poor weather and a parasite blighting pine trees in the Mediterranean, wholesale prices rose to €47 per kg and a black market for the nuts developed. Some supermarkets even added anti-theft devices to packets.
Climate conditions are also adversely affecting almonds in California. The historic drought, which almond growers are accused of contributing to, is forcing farmers to think about their management of groundwater and restrict the numbers of acres they use.
Elsewhere, there are issues around fair working conditions and human rights. Low pay and caustic burns are commonplace in the cashew nut industry and a 2013 Fair Labor report, commissioned by the Nestlé, found that on farms supplying hazelnuts to the company, 20% of workers were under the age of 15.
Join the discussion
On Wednesday 29th April, 1pm - 2pm BST a group of experts will join us on this page in the comments section to discuss:
- What impacts will a changing climate have on the production of nuts?
- How can brands identify and address poor labour conditions within their supply chains?
- How can nut supply chains be made more transparent?
- How can more farmers be integrated into sustainable supply chains?
Panel
Sunil Dahiya, business advisory manager at the African Cashew Alliance, responsible for providing guidance to cashew processing factories on business practices and technical components, such as equipment selection.
Bas van den Brink, cashew senior program manager, the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH)
Dan Binks, food industry professional, currently working as technical manager for Liberation Foods CIC, a Fairtrade Nut importer
Chris Brett, global head of sustainability, Olam International
Shakti Pal, regional cashew business expert, TechnoServe, working on cashew nut processing, farmer training, and connecting value chain partners in west Africa
Sabrina Bosson, strategic projects manager, Fair Labor Association
Ryan Shenk, manager of US operations, Sunshine Nut Company
Daan de Vries, markets director, UTZ Certified, leading development activities in Europe and Asia for coffee, cocoa, tea and hazelnuts
How to join
The live chat is completely text based and will take place on this page in the comments section below, kicking off on Wednesday 29th April at 1pm BST.
You can submit any questions leaving a comment in the thread below, tweeting them to @GuardianSustBiz using #askGSB, or sending an email to katherine.purvis@theguardian.com.
The know your nuts series is funded by Olam. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled ‘brought to you by’. Find out more here.
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