With over 300 days of sunshine, the perfect weather and rich soil of the Central Valley California provide ideal conditions to grow premium walnuts. California Walnuts are generally lighter in colour with a mild taste and a soft creamy texture. California Walnuts undergo stringent handling processes, helping to set them apart from other origins. The California Walnut Industry has maintained an exceptional food safety record for a century.
The UK continues to enjoy the great taste and quality of California Walnuts, Peter Meadows, Director of the Garden Marketing & PR agency who represent California walnuts’ interests in the UK says “Together with the California Walnut Commission (CWC) we actively promote California Walnuts and their many benefits to the UK trade and consumers via a range of marketing initiatives, inspiring and encouraging them to use more California Walnuts”.
The active nut
Recent highlights of these activities include promotions with Tesco, Sainsburys, Home Bargains and Costco, plus a range of supporting advertising and PR.
California Walnuts officially classify as a superfood, having won the ‘Best Superfood’ Gold Award in The Healthy Food & Drink Awards 2019. In addition, California walnuts have spent over $17m on health research and walnuts since over the years. In fact, California Walnuts’ investment in health research resulted in the EU confirming the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) approved claim that a daily 30g handful of walnuts can have a positive effect on blood vessels’ elasticity maintaining cardiovascular health, as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. According to the European Society of cardiology it is estimated that in there are 85M people in the EU suffering with cardiovascular disease (CVD)
Peter Meadows adds “in addition to their numerous health benefits, California Walnuts offer a number of attributes over other origins – great taste, consistency, outstanding food safety, ideal flavour and texture profiles, consistent high quality, Exceptional food safety, and year-round availability. We want the trade to understand why they should specify California as the origin of choice.”
The versatile Nut
With UK consumers welcoming new flavours and ingredients, walnut-based products are seeing increasing success. More nut butters are using California Walnuts as an ingredient and awareness is rising in the UK.
BNUTZ, the artisan nut butter producer, created a product with California Walnuts as a core ingredient. BNUTZ use premium organic ingredients, ethically sourced and free from palm oil, preservatives and refined sugar.
In the UK a number of cereal bar manufacturers are using California Walnuts as ingredients. Various cereal manufacturers are also interested in increasing their mixes and nutritional profiles with California Walnuts. One of these is muesli-granola manufacturer Rolla Granola, who recently launched their California Walnut, Oat Granola.
In mainland Europe, California Walnuts have made headway with leading food manufacturers, integrating walnuts into cheeses, yoghurts, premium confectionery.
The ‘On Trend’ nut
Looking ahead, according to research by the Vegan Society, there are around 600,000 vegans in Great Britain. Up from 150,000 in 2006, and there are twice as many women than men who are vegan.
The growing trend towards plant-based eating in the UK and Europe is attracting further interest in nuts generally, and California Walnuts’ versatility makes them perfectly positioned to take advantage of this trend.
California walnuts are nutrient-dense, rich in vitamins and minerals, and are the only tree nut offering an excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3 essential fatty acid. One of the best plant sources of omega-3s, 30g of walnuts provides 2.7g of ALA, 4g of protein and 2g of fibre.
Peter Meadows concluded, “There are many ways to enjoy California Walnuts, not only in the more traditional uses like snacks and baking, but in exciting new dishes and products. Our role is to show consumers how to use them more and more in everyday dishes and show them how walnuts are truly one of the most versatile nuts on the market.”
Why California Walnuts?
The central valley in California provides ideal conditions to sustainably grow premium quality walnuts. Walnuts from California are generally lighter in colour and have a sweet-mild taste with a soft creamy texture, which makes them a versatile ingredient for flavour profiles, and texture in recipes as well as processed products.
Despite the recent challenging global situation, the California walnut industry continues its commitment to producing high-quality, nutritious and safe walnuts for consumers worldwide. The California Walnut Industry has earned a reputation for producing high quality walnuts while maintaining an exceptional food safety record for a century. California Walnuts are grown, harvested, and processed following strict Federal and State food safety regulations. Our finished product often exceeds quality standards set by the USDA.
California Walnuts have tremendous versatility and can be used in a variety of ways – for recipe ideas and inspiration visit californiawalnuts.co.uk.
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