SunGleam Organic is a family-owned business, producing and sourcing organic single-origin nuts for wholesalers, retailers and their own online business. The company is headed up in the UK by Pierre Roux
It started in the 1970’s when Pierre’s father started cultivating a forgotten pecan orchard on the farm in South Africa with good results. It was organic by default, as he didn’t have funds for inputs and luckily, they weren’t needed because of its unique climate and position.
The farm became certified in 1994 and started exporting to Europe.
From orchard to retail outlet
In the 1990s and 2000s after dissatisfaction with importers/traders they decided to market directly, developing methods that worked and were then able to provide partner producers a platform to access wholesalers and retailers in the UK and Europe. As a prerequisite, the producers they work with have a genuine focus on regenerative agriculture, a desire to improve soils, biodiversity on their farms as well as air quality.
SunGleam Organic work with 6 single origin nut producers, sourcing:
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Organic pecans from the SunGleam’s organic family farm in South Africa
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Organic cashew nuts from Zantye’s organic farm, Goa
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Northdale farms, an organic macadamia producer in South Africa
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Organic Almonds from a co-operative Extremadura, Spain
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Organic hazelnuts from a Turkish co-operative called Isik Organic
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Organic Brazil nuts from Bolivia
Organic knowledge sharing
The Roux family farm works with other pecan farmers giving advice about organic conversion.
Pierre describes how “The issue with tree crops is you have to spend a lot of money in the first two years establishing the orchard and it takes a lot of time to make money back, so a lot of farms are nervous to commit to converting to organic. So as a successful producer, we can give these farmers the information and guidance they need to give them confidence to convert to organic.”
Farming in harmony with nature
The pecan farm fertilises the nut orchards with regenerative sheep grazing the white clover (which in turn, fixates the nitrogen) and wild grasses, along with plenty of insect and birdlife.
Since the 1980s there have been no pesticides or fertilisers sprayed on the farm. They are visited regularly by university students to monitor and study the rich soil on the farm.
Pierre commented “They are blown away by it and they can’t pinpoint exactly why it’s so fantastic yet, the relationship between the trees, the plants, the soil and the wildlife is symbiotic. My father had experts in conventional pecan farming visit in 1990s and 2000s from the US and they told him that in 5 years he would hit a brick wall, that there won’t be enough nutrients in the soil and the crops will suffer and of course that hasn’t happened.”
Truly raw organic
SunGleam nuts are 100% raw. Most nuts are pasteurised to kill Ecoli or Salmonella, which denatures the proteins. Instead, they are airdried naturally and slowly, followed by analysis to test for pathogens.
Through their business model, SunGleam offer traceability back to orchard. As Pierre says that “Most importers and distributors will always have 3-4 suppliers to mitigate risk, we rely on one supplier of each nut type. If our farms can’t supply one year or have a smaller, crop we will communicate this to customers.”
Sustainable packaging
The SunGleam nuts are packaged in brown paper bags with a 100% compostable lining to keep the nuts fresh.
It’s clear that the business has a core ethos and commitment to organic, sustainability.
Ordering and contact
If you would like to find out more about sourcing SunGleam Organic for wholesale or retail please contact Pierre Roux.
To order the nuts directly from the SunGleam website click here.
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