Sesame trends and upcoming markets 2020 02-10-2020

Sesame trends and upcoming markets 2020 02-10-2020

Trends in the sesame seed market differ per country. Because of the COVID-19 situation some trends for 2020 are already off track. As per example, in Japan customers value a good color, a better taste and flavor. In other countries like Turkey, Poland and the Middle East, they value cheap sesame seed, mainly because it is not meant for unprocessed consumption, but for hummus production. We outlined some sesame trends that we foresee in the coming years:

• Online supermarkets and stores (E-commerce) saw an increase in sales up to 50% during January – June 2020. Health and food consumption is a growing sector in online supermarkets and stores.
• More volatility in prices during years 2020 and 2021 because of the unstable COVID-19 situation.
• Increase in demand for in the coming years due to an increased demand for healthy food and a healthy lifestyle.
• Increase in production of black sesame seed, due to (a) a growing demand in different kind of foods that use black sesame, like black sesame yoghurt, sesame soya milk and black sesame paste and (b) due to severe drought in Jiangxi province. Per example the production of black sesame this year is about 15000 tons, the production last year was only about 5000 tons (Global sesame conference China.,2020. GSC).

Upcoming and developing sesame markets

Tanzania could become an upcoming market. Around 65% of this country citizens are employed in the agriculture sector. In 2019 the total sesame production of Tanzania increased by 18%. The expectations is that this number will increase again in years 2020 and 2021. Tanzania invests in railway stations, has a 3%+ inflation rate for several years now and the GDP/income is around $1,000. All in all, this gives enough reasons to expect a bigger crop in Tanzania the coming years.

Another upcoming sesame seed market is South America. Because of its favorable climate, there is almost no need to manipulate the crop of sesame. The sesame plant grows best with little water and a lot of sun. The expectations are that the crop in Brazil, will increase, if farmers see a sufficient return on investment (Global sesame conference China.,2020. GSC).

Another statement about the crop in Nigeria, cited by Global sesame conference China.,2020. GSC. “Annual exports of sesame from Nigeria are valued at about US$700 million and Nigeria is the primary supplier of sesame seed to the world’s largest importer, Japan. Nigeria is the largest producer of sesame seeds in Africa and the third largest in the world. 90% sesame seeds in Nigeria is exported. Share 36.39% of agricultural exports in Nigeria, production is expected to 600,000T on 2020.”

Recapitulating we can state that the sesame seed market will change the coming decade. The production will partly shift to other continents. The production of sesame seed could also become more specific, harvests that are more suitable for direct consumption and harvests that are specific to production of sesame products like sesame paste.

At Dipasa we hope the above contributes in answering some questions you may have regarding the expectations and developments of the sesame seed market in the coming years. If you would like additional information, do not hesitate to contact our sales department at: sales@dipasa.nl