Kenari Nuts Make Their North American Debut at Expo West 2023
WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE
East Forest KENARI NUTS
@ EXPO WEST 2023
on 9-11 MarcH 2023
HALL B booth 1589
Kawanasi is the pioneer, leading manufacturer, and specialist of Wild Harvested Indonesian Kenari Nuts! Kawanasi brings the Indonesian best-kept secret nut to the world.
Come & discover our wild Harvested Kenari Nuts and East Forest Kenari Nuts.
We will also present information on:
All about Kenari Nuts and its significance
“ the signifikenari”!
See you soon! Stay safe and healthy!
Originally published: 2023 · Last updated: August 2026
In 2023, Kawanasi introduced Kenari Nuts to the North American market for the first time at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California.
The event marked another important step in the international development of Kenari.
By this point, Kawanasi had already introduced Kenari to international audiences in Europe and some other international markets, obtained organic certification and completed the regulatory process required for European market access.
Expo West opened a new opportunity: introducing Kenari to the North American natural and organic food community.
A Major Platform for Natural and Organic Products
Natural Products Expo West is a major trade event for the natural, organic and healthy-products industry in North America.
The 2023 event brought together companies and professionals across food, beverage, supplements, personal care and other natural-product categories.
The event also provided a useful view of emerging consumer preferences and product innovation.
For an unfamiliar food such as Kenari, this environment was particularly relevant.
North American consumers are accustomed to a wide range of nuts and snack products, but Kenari was still largely unknown.
The opportunity was therefore not simply to introduce another nut.
It was to introduce a completely different nut category.
Introducing an Indonesian Forest Nut
Kenari comes from naturally occurring trees in the forests of Eastern Indonesia.
Its origin immediately provides a point of difference from many established nut products in the North American market.
At Expo West, Kawanasi was able to introduce the nut's origin, characteristics and potential as both a snack and food ingredient.
The response reinforced the potential for a product that combines:
an unfamiliar ingredient;
a distinctive taste and texture;
organic certification;
Indonesian forest origin; and
an emerging international story.
Kawanasi's current work continues to connect Kenari's origin with quality management, traceability and product development.
Why the North American Market Mattered
North America has a mature natural and organic food sector and a strong culture of discovering new ingredients and food formats.
This made Expo West an important market-learning opportunity.
The event allowed Kawanasi to observe how Kenari was received outside Europe as well as other international markets and to understand how its positioning could translate to a different market.
It also provided an opportunity to explore conversations with buyers, distributors and food businesses interested in distinctive natural products.
The Indonesian government also documented Indonesia's participation at Natural Products Expo West 2023 in Anaheim, highlighting the event as an important platform for Indonesian products entering the US market.
From a European Journey to a Global One
Expo West took place during a particularly important year for Kenari.
In March 2023, Kenari Nuts received EU Novel Food approval, opening the way for commercial introduction in Europe. The same year, East Forest received recognition at BIOFACH and Anuga.
The North American introduction therefore happened alongside a broader expansion of Kenari's international presence.
The sequence was becoming:
Europe → North America → other international markets
rather than a single-market strategy.
More Than a Snack
Another important part of the Expo West presentation was Kenari's potential beyond packaged snacking.
Kenari can also be explored as an ingredient for food businesses.
Its distinctive texture and flavor make it relevant to applications such as bakery, confectionery, desserts, ice cream and other food products.
This broader ingredient potential is part of Kawanasi's continuing effort to develop Kenari as a food category rather than simply a single consumer product.
The North American Chapter Begins
Expo West 2023 marked the first major introduction of Kenari to the North American natural and organic food market.
It provided a new market for Kawanasi to explore, new conversations around the ingredient and another opportunity to demonstrate that an Indonesian forest nut could have relevance far beyond its place of origin.
The international journey that began at SIAL Paris in 2018 was becoming increasingly global.