Almonds: Continue to look good value against other commodities and tree nuts in particular. Also seasonally and predictably, September to November shipments from California have been strong to date and higher than previous years.

Hazelnuts: In principle, the hazelnut market should remain firm and, with the Turkish general election in 2009, there is every reason to expect the government there to continue to support prices and markets as best they can.

Walnuts: We expect to see an average new crop from India, while China reports problems with localised supply from Yunan province. The Californian new crop was extremely good this year.

Cashews: Given non-recession-based fundamentals, we would expect prices to remain stable to firm ongoing. Within the context of recession, prices might well drop in line with declining demand.

Pecans: Pecan pricing also faces an uncertain future. The key to demand into 2009 lies predominantly in the Far East, primarily in the Chinese and Indian markets, which have significantly increased their own imports of pecans over the past five years.

Pistachios: Prices have been extremely firm of late. Clearly forced higher by the currency, the fundamental problem is the combined poor crops in both the US and Iran, each showing up to a 30% shortfall.

Brazils: Stock levels are now sufficient in the UK and European markets and this seems likely to continue until the new crop next March/April.

l Based on information provided by ingredients supplier RM Curtis