almond processing food tech fiber

The Almond Flour Boom

RE-NUT AG

April 16, 2026

Almond flour is on track to be a $5 billion ingredient category by 2035. Trade disruptions, formulation limitations, and a demanding clean-label market mean that food manufacturers are actively looking for something more functional. Here is what is happening and where RE-NUT® fits in.

Not many ingredient categories can claim a decade of sustained double-digit growth. Almond flour is one of them. From a specialty health-food product found in paleo blogs and natural food shops, it has become one of the most industrially significant alternative flours on the market, found in bakeries, chocolate manufacturing, plant-based dairy, infant nutrition, and high-protein snacks. The numbers behind that trajectory are pretty crazy: the global almond flour market is estimated at $2.15 billion in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.6%, and is projected to reach $4.88 billion by 2035. Zooming out to the full almond ingredients market (which includes milk, paste, oil, and extracts alongside flour) the figure rises to $11.8 billion in 2025, forecast to surge to $27.4 billion by 2035.

These numbers represent a fundamental shift in how the global food industry sources protein, fibre, and fat and almond flour sits at the centre of it. This doesn't mean that the market is without challenges. Three developments in 2025 alone have reshaped how buyers and manufacturers think about almond flour and collectively they make the case for a different kind of almond ingredient.

What Is Driving the Boom

Three diet movements, i.e., gluten-free, keto, and paleo, have converged to create a structural shift in flour demand. Each independently drives demand for almond flour; together they are reshaping the ingredient market. Coeliac disease affects approximately 1% of the US population, and gluten sensitivity is significantly more prevalent. But the growth of the gluten-free market is not driven by medical necessity alone: it is driven by a broader shift toward cleaner, less processed food. The global gluten-free food market was $14.25 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $33.59 billion by 2034, growing at roughly 10% per year. Almond flour holds the largest single share of the gluten-free flour category. The keto flour segment tells a similar story. Almond flour dominates keto baking, valued at $185 million in 2024, it is projected to reach $640 million by 2035, the fastest-growing segment in the keto flour market. And with obesity and metabolic health continuing as major public health concerns in North America and increasingly in Asia, the low-carb trend is not fading.

The North American gluten-free flour market alone is projected to reach $5.89 billion by 2031, growing at 12.3% annually, driven primarily by the US, where almond flour has become a mainstream pantry staple rather than a specialist product.

"Manufacturers are no longer just substituting ingredients; they are using almond flour to enhance the nutritional profile of legacy products. The high content of plant protein, healthy fats, and magnesium allows brands to make functional claims that resonate with today's proactive health-conscious shopper."

— Nandini Roy Choudhury, Principal Consultant, Future Market Insights, 2026

Some applications of RE-NUT®'s Almond Flour

Three Developments That Are Reshaping the Market Right Now

1. US tariffs are disrupting almond flour supply chains (2025)

The introduction of new US government tariffs in 2025 sent a material shock through the global almond flour market. With California producing over 80% of the world's almonds, any trade friction involving US agricultural exports directly affects the cost and availability of almond-derived ingredients worldwide. Manufacturers have responded by intensifying local sourcing and expanding domestic milling capacity, but this restructuring takes time and capital, and is reshaping cost structures across the industry.

For buyers of almond flour, particularly in Europe and Asia, this has meant higher input costs and supply uncertainty. It creates a powerful incentive to seek differentiated almond ingredients that deliver more value per kilo, not just a commodity flour at a competitive price, but an ingredient that justifies its position in a formulation with functional and nutritional superiority.

2. Spain mandates country-of-origin labelling for almonds in the EU (January 2025)

Spain's Royal Decree 562/2025, effective January 2025, introduced mandatory country-of-origin labelling for almond products sold in the EU. The intent is consumer transparency, but the effect is more significant: it forces every player in the almond ingredient supply chain to be legible about provenance and production method.

For RE-NUT® licensees, this is a structural advantage. In-shell processing is a clearly defined, patented technology. The provenance story — whole nut, zero waste, published safety data — is a documentable production method. As labelling and traceability requirements tighten across European markets, that transparency becomes a differentiator, not just a nice-to-have.

3. EFSA updated its Novel Food guidance (September 2024)

In September 2024, EFSA updated its guidance on the scientific and administrative requirements for novel food applications under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. The update clarifies submission requirements and streamlines the assessment process. Combined with the publication of our peer-reviewed genotoxicity study in March 2026 the regulatory pathway for Almond Solids, Almond Liquid Extract, and Peanut Paste in Europe is now materially clearer than it was a year ago.

The Problem Conventional Almond Flour Has Not Solved

Almond flour's growth has exposed a formulation gap that the industry is still struggling to close.

Gluten-free baking is hard. Gluten is not just a protein , it is the structural backbone of bread, cakes, and pastry. It traps air, creates elasticity, holds moisture, and gives baked goods their characteristic chew and crumb. Replacing it is genuinely complex. Manufacturers typically compensate with a combination of gums (xanthan, guar), psyllium husk, and others, all of which add cost, complicate labels, and often still produce results that are denser, crumblier, and drier than their wheat-flour equivalents. Conventional blanched almond flour — made from skinned, defatted, finely milled almonds — is valued for its flavour, protein content, and low carbohydrate profile. But it has limitations: its fibre content is moderate, its water-binding capacity is limited, and it does nothing to reduce the formulator's reliance on additional texturising agents.

How RE-NUT® Almond Solids compare to conventional blanched almond flour:

	Blanched almond flour (conventional)	RE-NUT® Almond Solids
Dietary fibre content	Moderate (~10–15%)	Very high (60–78% dry weight)
Shell fraction included	No — blanched, skinned kernels only	Yes — whole nut processed in-shell
Polyphenol / antioxidant content	Standard almond profile	Significantly elevated from shell fraction
Water-binding capacity	Moderate	High — natural functional fibre matrix
Texture contribution	Good — fine, neutral	Rich — fibre-forward, improved moisture retention
Label friendliness	Clean — single ingredient	Clean — single ingredient, more nutritional complexity
Allergen status	Tree nut (almond)	Tree nut (almond)
Regulatory status (EU)	Standard food ingredient	Novel food
Genotoxicity data	Not specifically published	Peer-reviewed, published March 2026 (OECD 471 & 487)
Sustainability credential	Standard — kernel only	Circular — zero shell waste, full nut utilised

For formulators working on high-fibre products, gluten-free bakery, plant-based meat alternatives, or functional snacks, Almond Solids offer something conventional almond flour cannot: a single ingredient that delivers fibre, antioxidants, and binding capacity simultaneously, without a separate additive line on the label.

A First in the Field

Read the full study: Laux et al. (2026). An In-vitro Assessment of the Genotoxic Potential of In-Shell Nut Ingredients According to OECD Genotoxicity Guidelines 471 and 487. European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety, 18(3), 208–225.

Download the study here.

Interested in licensing the RE-NUT® technology? Get in touch at info@re-nut.com

The Timing is Right

The convergence of three forces — a booming demand for almond-based ingredients, supply chain disruption creating urgency for differentiation, and a regulatory environment that now rewards documented safety and provenance — creates an unusually clear window for RE-NUT®. Industry leaders are already paying attention. Blue Diamond Growers, Olam International, and Barry Callebaut are driving standardisation in high-purity almond proteins and specialised flours for confectionery. Smaller regional players are capturing value through premiumisation, organic-certified powders, customised blends, and high-fibre variants targeted at specific dietary needs. The category is no longer competing on price alone.

RE-NUT® Almond Solids sit in the functional tier of this market. They are a more nutritionally complete, more circular, and more documentably safe alternative that addresses formulation challenges conventional almond flour cannot. For nut processors looking to license a genuinely differentiated technology, and for food companies building next-generation gluten-free or high-fibre product lines, the question is no longer whether there is a market. The market is already there.

The question is who gets there first.

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