By Haley Herzog
TFB Communications Intern
The pecan industry has launched its first-ever national consumer campaign in an effort to promote America’s native nut.
The American Pecan Council (APC) hopes to change America’s perception and use its new brand, “American Pecans, The Original Super Nut,” to promote the many overlooked benefits of the widely used tree nut.
“In 1960, there were more pecans grown in the United States than there were almonds,” Mike Adams, Texas pecan farmer in Caldwell and chairperson of APC, said.
APC is an organization formed as a result of a Federal Marketing Order (FMO) for pecans approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2016.
“Today, the almond crop is 33 times what it was in 1960. So, they’re growing 2 billion pounds of almonds, and our supply is still pretty much what it was,” Adams said.
The growth difference over the 60 year period is the result of a FMO that the almond industry adopted years ago and now has the pecan industry following their lead.
“We, as pecan growers and the pecan industry, realize that we have this great food commodity that has a great story to tell,” Adams said. “So, that was the kind of encouragement of looking at the history of other tree nuts that really encouraged us to propagate the marketing order that will allow industry, the pecan industry, to tell our own story.”
APC is hoping to change the misconception that pecans are just for pie by using their new national consumer campaign to promote the pecan’s nutritious elements, versatility and local aspects.
“The pecan is the only major tree nut that is indigenous to America even going back to the Native Americans that used to go up and down the great rivers of the United States following the pecan harvest,” Adams said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “It was a staple food, and they recognized then the nutritious value of the pecan.”
APC said they intend to bring new light to the pecan industry and create global awareness about the product’s superfood value to consumers.
“What we’re finding out with modern science is how good and nutrition-packed the pecan is. Modern horticulture and modern science is going in and looking at the various aspects whether it be the good fats, the antioxidants and all of the things that create a food commodity that is good for us,” Adams said.
The marketing campaign and brand positioning, developed by Weber Shandwick, was led by consumer research that revealed consumers most commonly identify pecans with pie and guided the development of the campaign.
“We certainly don’t want to abandon the pie, but (want to include) the health aspects, the nutrition, just how the pecan is packed in a very small package with all of these good things for you,” Adams said.
Pecan production is a nine-billion dollar industry in the United States that expands across the southern belt in 15 states from California to North Carolina, Florida to Kansas, and Texas.
“Our U.S. pecan crop has averaged, over the last three years, 300 million pounds plus or minus,” Adams said. “The last couple of years we have been a little below that, but the numbers are increasing because literally within the last 10 to 15 years, the world, particularly China, has developed a taste for the pecan which hadn’t existed before.”
The nutritious value and savory taste of pecans are part of the product’s allure in the United States.
The organization noted growers are planting thousands of acres of new pecan trees in an effort to meet the expected demand increase worldwide.
“The competitive economics is a supply, demand and price situation. If you’ve got to increase demand, that’s going to pull supply and part of our story, or part of our task at the Pecan Council, is to tell our story to this not only existing consumer, but to the new consumers that are coming and tasting a pecan every day,” Adams said.
The new integrated marketing campaign includes digital advertising, social media and food professionals that showcase the versatility of pecans and the many ways to enjoy them that are #notjustpie.