World’s first flavoured Brazil nut – talk about nuts!

Last month, Truly Nuts, a White Lion Foods Company announced a partnership with wholesaler, CLF Distribution, which would see it bringing flavoured Brazil nuts in 12 varieties to the UK.

Whilst Brazil nuts have been previously coated in chocolate and yoghurt, no one has managed to flavour one…until now.

Why is it difficult to flavour a Brazil nut?

Speaking with Greg Vickers, co-founder and chief product officer for the brand who accomplished this tour de force, he explained the difficulty behind flavouring this nut is result of the smooth exterior being a complicated surface to ‘stick flavour’ to.  

“White Lion Foods, our sister company, has the most technologically advanced Brazil Nut Factory, in the Peruvian Amazon Jungle. From where we have been supplying commoditised Brazil Nuts to customers in over 40 countries,” ​he continued.

“It has always been part of our vision to look at how we can create more value within the category, which in turn would bring value back to the thousands of people we employ in the region, whilst offering consumers a healthy snacking alternative.”​

To create the flavoured Brazil nuts, the company applies “a slow roast, and then subtly add flavours at a low temperature”.​

The nuts are also flavoured in the UK, close to the brand’s customers “to ensure maximum freshness and taste”.​

It took around 18 months of development to produce the end product, which come in flavours such as smoked and hot chilli, along with dark and milk chocolate iterations.

Commenting on the drivers behind the flavours, Vickers told Food Manufacture: “Our Truly Nuts office compromises a lively, multi-cultural team, (between us we speak 10+ languages!) [and] I believe this melting pot of cultures has been a significant driver in our quest for flavour excellence. ​

“To start with, we had many options as flavours. We slowly worked on improvement and natural selection of best in-house flavours as decided by our team, before taking these out to the consumer, getting feedback from different sources, all whilst making marginal improvements as we went along, until we got to the flavours range we have taken to market.”​

The flavoured Brazil nuts are available to buy in the UK and US, directly through Truly Nuts’ website or via Amazon. They will now also be supplied by health focused wholesaler CLF Distribution, which services clients such as Planet Organic and The Better Food Company.

Europe’s appetite for Brazil nuts

The Brazil nut market in Europe, specifically, is expected to see steady growth as consumers become more health conscious. According to data from Technavio, the UK, Germany, Italy and France are among the main markets for Brazil nuts across the continent.

Vickers agreed, stating that the UK’s love for Brazil nuts has been driven predominately by health and sustainability.

The company says it now has its sights set on Singapore, South Korea, Australia, and the rest of Europe, with launches planned for this year.

Concluding on a note about the future, Vickers added: “We will continue our quest to produce the world’s best tasting nuts; [and] not just Brazilian, we also have a fine range of mixed nuts – cashews and almonds.​

“Beyond this, we strongly believe there is so much potential, not just with the Brazil nuts, but also with the power of plants in general, especially those that can be found in the Amazon Jungle areas that we are sourcing our Brazil nuts. We would love to be able offer these treasures to our customers.”​