In South Korea, the Beverly Hills pizza made with California walnuts is hard to keep in stock – and devotees of the carbolicious food might have a San Benito County walnut farmer to thank.
The San Benito County crop report for 2013, released Aug. 19, showed last year’s crop of walnuts was slightly larger than the previous year but was worth $1.8 million more – going from $2.9 million to $4.7 million in production.
“What’s happened with the walnuts, I think, is the consumers have become more aware of the health benefits of walnuts, so the demand has gone up,” said Ronald Ross, the agricultural commissioner for San Benito County. “What’s happened is there’s been an increase in demand not only in the United States but worldwide for California walnuts.”
It’s a trend that local walnut farmer Frank Guerra has been watching for six years. While the public’s increased understanding about the health benefits of eating walnuts has helped sales, boosted exports to China are a large part of the nut’s rising market price, he said.
“There’s an expanding number of middle-class Chinese that are able to afford walnuts,” he said. “It was a very small market seven years ago and it’s just exploded in the last six years.”
The rising market price of walnuts has affected growers across the county including those who grow conventional walnuts, such as Guerra, and those who grow organic walnuts.
Premium on organic
The price difference between the two products is significant. Less than a mile from Hollister’s San Benito Street, the local Safeway sells a 7-ounce bag of conventional walnuts for $5.99 and 7.5 ounces of organic ones for $8.99.
“A lot of the farmers here – the traditional walnut farmers – have switched to organic cultivation for walnuts to take advantage of that increase in price,” Ross said. “People will pay a premium for organic.”
This year, more than half the walnut producers in the county grew organic walnuts. A total of 20 producers grew walnuts the conventional way, while 31 grew organic walnuts, Ross said.
“The organic walnut mark-up took off about six or seven years ago so we’ve been seeing a big increase,” Ross said. “It’s kind of leveled off a little bit but we’ve been seeing a large switch from conventional to organic.”
The public’s increased understanding about walnuts’ health benefits has also helped increase the food’s price in grocery stores. In the last 20 years, more than 100 papers have been published in medical journals worldwide highlighting the healthy benefits of eating walnuts, Ross said.
But health professionals such as Anju Goel, health officer of San Benito County, are quick to note that it’s not just walnuts with health benefits for consumers.
“There are a lot of health benefits to nuts and it’s really not just walnuts,” Goel said.
Walnuts are high in omega 3 fatty acids, which help keep the heart healthy, and they have plenty of fiber, which helps keep bowel movements regular and decreases the chance of colon cancer later in life, she said. They also pack lots of energy into a small amount of space. Nuts have a high fat content and a single gram of fat has eight calories of energy, while a gram of carbohydrates packs only four calories, she explained.
“I do recommend that people incorporate nuts in their diet but you do have to be careful about the amount of nuts you consume because they are high in calories,” Goel said.
As consumers continue to show an interest in walnuts, Guerra, whose Guerra Nut Shelling company has grown and processed walnuts in the county for more than 60 years, sees the increase in the demand for walnuts as a nice trend.
“The prices have definitely gone up for the crop overall – not just countywide,” he said.
Walnuts statewide
More than 1,400 tons of walnuts were produced in San Benito County last year, but that’s a small production number compared to the 492,000 tons of walnuts produced across California last year. The 2014 California walnut crop is forecast to be even larger with a predicted record 545,000 tons, up 11 percent from 2013’s production, according to the 2014 California Walnut Objective Measurement report released by the United States Department of Agriculture on Sept. 5. While other areas of California produce more walnuts, this county seems to be particularly well suited to organic production because the area attracts less pests than the San Joaquin Valley, according to the agricultural commissioner.
County walnut crop size by year:
2012: 1,410 tons
2013: 1,477 tons
County walnut crop value by year:
2012: $ 2,928,500
2013: $4,733,750
Source: 2013 Annual Crop Report for San Benito County
San Benito County walnut producers by the numbers:
Conventional walnut producers: 20
Organic walnut producers: 31
Source: Ronald Ross, the San Benito County agricultural commissioner
