Why Trickett's Grove?
What makes Trickett’s Grove walnuts unique compared to other walnuts on the market?
As with most food, freshness is key to walnut quality. The walnut shell serves as nature’s airtight container, protecting the kernels from air and light. Unlike imported walnuts that are cracked months before reaching New Zealand, our walnuts are grown locally and freshly cracked. This preserves their deliciously fresh, nutty taste.
Walnuts exposed to air during long-term storage and transportation can undergo oil oxidation and nutrient loss. This is another reason why freshness is so important. At Trickett’s Grove, our walnuts are freshly cracked, preserving their natural antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
How do we ensure the quality and freshness of our walnuts from orchard to customer?
To ensure the quality and freshness of our walnuts from orchard to customer, we follow a meticulous process. After our growers harvest the walnuts, they are washed, sorted, dried, and sized at the orchard.
During the sorting stage, any walnuts that do not meet our high standards are removed. Once the walnuts arrive at our factory, we conduct sample testing to ensure that the kernel moisture is below 5.5%. This moisture level is crucial as it maintains the walnuts’ crispness and prevents spoilage, ensuring the best taste and texture.
Additionally, we have a comprehensive traceability system in place, allowing us to accurately track the walnuts sold to consumers back to the specific orchard they came from. This guarantees quality and transparency back to the source.
Our entire operation is conducted under a custom Food Control Plan ensuring every step meets strict safety and quality standards.
What practices do our growers have in place to ensure sustainable farming?
Our philosophy is to help our trees become more productive with as little intervention as possible. This means we aim to limit the use of chemicals and use other techniques to grow delicious nuts. One way we do this is to actively prune the trees to optimise their shape and create an orchard canopy. This maximises the amount of sunlight the trees receive which helps nourish and grow the nuts.
Another sustainability initiative involves sending some of our walnut shells to a landscaping company, where they are composted and used in a specialty garden mix.
What’s the busiest time of year for a walnut grower?
From March to May each year, walnut growers are at their busiest. We usually start harvesting at the end of March, when the walnuts begin to fall to the ground naturally.
We use tree shakers to knock the walnuts to the ground, and then collect them with machinery. This process is a race against time because if the walnuts are left on the ground for too long, they won't meet our quality standards.
After harvesting, we clean, sort, dry, size, and store the walnuts. During the harvest season, our growers work incredibly hard, often putting in more than 12 hours a day.
