Peanut butter is a food paste made from ground nut or peanut. It consists essentially of cleaned, graded, blanched, roasted and crushed groundnuts containing about 45 percent of oil and over 25 percent of proteins, being thus a highly nutritive food.Since India occupies the first position both in regard tothe area and the production of groundnut, in the world, it is bound to explore all the qualitative values of groundnut, and use it to the maximum.
The major groundnut-producing countries of the world are India, China, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Burma and the USA. Out of the total area of 18.9 million hectares and the total production of 17.8 million tonnes in the world, these countries account for 69% of the area and 70% of the production. India occupies the position, both in regard to the area and the production, in the world. About 7.5 million hectares is put under it annually and the production is about 6 million tonnes. 70% of the area and 75% of the production are concentrated in the four states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Orissa have irrigated area forms about 6% of the total groundnut area in India. In United State's half the crop is processedintoedible productsmainlypeanut butter, otherproductsincludepeanut candy,salted nuts peanut butter is made and consumedprimarily in the U.S. The peanuts are shelled and dry-roasted the skins are removed and the nuts are finally ground.
Global trade of Indian Peanuts or Indian Groundnut oil is to the maximum of 100000 tons a year. EU and major importers. Senegal and Argentina are the major Peanuts exporters.
Around 75% of the crop is produced in khariff (June - September) and remaining 25% in Rabi (November - March). India exported around 100000 tons of groundnut oil in 2003-04 after 4 decades, as crop failed in Senegal and Argentina. Peanuts or Groundnut kernels are approx. 70% of weight in shells and kernels have an oil recovery of 40-42%.
China (2-2.5 million tons), India (1.5-2 million tons) is the major producers of groundnut oil, followed by Sub-Saharan African countries and Central and South America.
Groundnut is the major oilseed of India. It accounts for around 25% of the total oilseed production of the country. Annual production of Indian Peanuts and Indian Peanuts oil are around 5-8mln and 1.5 mln tons respectively. Peanuts Production is highly vulnerable to rainfall deviations and display huge fluctuation between years.
Various drivers for peanut butter market includes rising demand for nutritious products coupled with increasing disposable income of consumers especially in developing countries. Other drivers that fuel the growth of peanut butter market are increasing demand for low calorie healthy food and emergence of hectic life schedule. Changing lifestyle coupled with shift towards the intake of convenient food are also factors that are expected to drive the peanut butter market in the coming four to five years. Major restraint that is expected to hamper the growth of the overall peanut butter market is the availability of peanut at relatively competitive prices coupled with fluctuating production of peanuts especially in India.
Few Indian major players are as under
Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd
Agro Tech Foods Limited
Dr. Oetker India Pvt Ltd
Parag Milk Foods Limited
Britannia Dairy Private Limited
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Private Limited
