The Peanut Company of Australia (PCA) is celebrating Australians becoming more selective peanut purchasers by choosing their retail brand Picky Picky Peanuts which recently reached its one year anniversary.
As Australia’s peanut industry pioneers and armed with more than 90 years’ of peanut expertise, PCA wanted to establish a brand that would showcase quality, Australian grown, Hi Oleic peanuts to entice new and existing nut consumers.
PCA chief executive officer John Howard said the hard work over the past 12 months had paid off, based on the national and international success the brand had experienced to date.
“The launch of Picky Picky Peanuts was somewhat courageous due to the number of competitors, the rise of imported products and the recent adverse growing conditions but so far the response both in Australia and abroad has been extremely positive,” Mr Howard said.
“We are thrilled with what we’ve achieved in our first year, securing widespread national distribution of our product across several leading retails including Caltex Starmart, Woolworths Petrol, Coles Express and IGA,” he said.
“Picky Picky Peanuts are also available overseas, stocked by international grocery chain Spinneys Dubai and we expect to add additional international stockists in the near future.
“We created Picky Picky Peanuts to help protect our iconic industry and a key Australian agribusiness, to deliver increased returns for farmers by offering high quality, locally grown peanuts direct to consumers and it’s extremely pleasing to see this come to life.”
Kumbia peanut farmer and PCA supplier Peter Howlett said with the longevity of the Australian peanut industry in the spotlight it’s important to have a brand like Picky Picky Peanuts.
“It’s a brand dedicated to helping increase the value of our product for the industry and for farmers like myself,” Mr Howlett said.
"The success of the brand and the flow-on effects it will have for farmers both now and for generations to come is very exciting,” he said.
"We grow 40-60 hectares of peanuts every year, which are sent to PCA for use in the Picky Picky Peanuts range. If you've had a couple packets of Picky Picky, you've probably tasted my peanuts."
The success of Picky Picky Peanuts has led to the recent launch of Picky Picky Peanut oil, a Hi Oleic peanut oil stocked in Coles supermarkets nationally, and the opening of PCA’s state of the art production facility that Mr Howard hopes will support the peanut industry well into the future.
“The purpose of the facility is to create value adding options in a consumer ready format including roasting, flavouring and a retail packaging line.
”The facility has created eight full time positions, with future requirements being determined by sales growth.”
Mr Howard said the Picky Picky Peanuts brand encouraged consumers to be picky by choosing products grown by Australian farmers.
“At PCA we are picky peanut people – we know what the best peanuts taste like and we wanted to create a product and brand that encouraged consumers to be picky peanut people too.
“Our brand is a little cheeky, but at the end of the day being picky is about ensuring the longevity of our industry and meeting consumer demand with a product that is grown by and supports Australian farmers.”