How a simple snack is reshaping sustainable farming and empowering communities in the Amazon.
Ever considered the environmental toll of your favorite snack? While many nuts are healthy, their production often comes with excessive water usage, deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and unsustainable nut farming can damage ecosystems and harm local communities. But now, there’s a way to snack without leaving a bitter aftertaste on the planet. Truly Nuts is a company making a real difference where it matters most—at the very source of their product.
How Gareth Lloyd and Greg Vickers Went Truly Nuts
Truly Nuts started with its founders, Gareth Lloyd and Greg Vickers, who turned their passion for business and adventure into something unique.
After travelling through Latin America and witnessing the potential for sustainable agriculture in the region, Gareth and Greg co-founded White Lion Foods in 2012. Seeing the rich, natural bounty of Brazil nuts, Gareth and Greg saw an opportunity to do something no one else had—flavour them. While Brazil nuts are typically sold plain or covered in chocolate, Truly Nuts has managed to create a range of flavoured Brazil nuts, offering a twist on a beloved snack that brings out the nut’s natural richness while appealing to modern consumers looking for something different.
“We wanted to bring something exciting to the market,” Gareth explains. “Flavouring Brazil nuts wasn’t something people believed could be done, but we saw it as an opportunity to innovate.”
But flavour alone wasn’t enough for the founders. Gareth’s vision extended beyond just creating a new product. He wanted to build a business that would make a positive impact on the people who make it all possible—the communities in the Amazon where the nuts are grown and harvested, and the environment they depend on.
Making a Difference at the Source: Sustainable Mission
Truly Nuts operates a state-of-the-art facility in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, where they not only process Brazil nuts sustainably but also work closely with local communities. The factory in Madre de Dios, Peru, operates under the PAMA (Environmental Adequacy and Management Programme), which ensures their nut processing plant has minimal environmental impact. For example, the company uses Brazil nut shells to fuel its operations. This means they’ve found a way to turn waste into power, significantly reducing their carbon footprint. By keeping production local, they also cut down on the transportation emissions associated with exporting raw nuts to distant facilities.
Additionally, Truly Nuts collaborates with indigenous organisations, such as FECONAPIA and FECONAU, to promote sustainable agroforestry and forest management practices. This helps empower local families, giving them a stable source of income through reforestation and agroforestry systems while protecting the natural environment.
They pay the women working in their factory 50% more than the local minimum wage, helping to support households in the region. By focusing on fair wages, Truly Nuts is creating meaningful opportunities in an area where employment is scarce. Another local programme they support is JungleeKeepers, which provides forest ranger training and improves storage facilities for improved product quality.
This is all part of their broader mission to protect the Amazon, not only through their operations but by investing directly in its future. Through a partnership with 1 Tree Planted, they’ve planted 50,000 trees in their first year, with an ambitious goal of planting 1 million trees and reforesting 1,000 hectares in the Amazon. Truly Nuts also donates 25% of profits to rainforest conservation.
A Healthier You, A Healthier Planet
We all know that Brazil nuts are packed with nutrients like selenium, which supports thyroid function and boosts immunity, making them a great choice for health-conscious snackers. But at an environmental level, Brazil nuts are harvested in harmony with the rainforest, relying on the forest’s natural cycles without the need for excessive irrigation or deforestation, unlike some other nuts that require vast amounts of water.
By sourcing and processing their Brazil nuts locally, Truly Nuts avoids many of the negative environmental impacts associated with conventional nut production, such as heavy pesticide use and soil degradation. Their facility’s eco-friendly approach and reduced transportation emissions make Truly Nuts a healthier choice for the environment, too.
Where Can You Get "Truly Nuts"?
If you’re craving a snack that makes a sustainable impact, you can find Truly Nuts at WHSmith Travel Stores, Amazon, and directly through their website. Keep an eye out for them and remember: even if making “green” changes feels overwhelming, supporting companies like Truly Nuts is an easy way to make a difference—because your wallet has power. And in this case, you don’t have to chew over your values to snack sustainably.
Website: https://uk.trulynuts.com/
