Courtney Carini is the creator, co-founder, and chief marketing officer of Fresno, CA-based Crazy Go Nuts, where she and her team manufacture a variety of walnut snacks and walnut butters. Coming from a musical theater and comedy background, Carini is self-taught in the food manufacturing industry. She now wears many hats at Crazy Go Nuts—from graphic design, and photography, to R&D and sales. Raised among walnut and pear orchards as a native of Lake County in California, nestled in the mountains just above Napa Valley, Carini is a life-long advocate for the environment and healthful practices, and she is proud to incorporate these values into Crazy Go Nuts. When not cooking delicious treats, Carini enjoys performing in many television shows, writing sketches, and telling inappropriate jokes on stage.

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Health E-Insights (HEI): How did the company get started?

Carini: My dad had a few old walnut trees on his property, and in 2013 he decided to pick them. He called me and asked me if I wanted to do anything with them, since it wasn’t enough to sell to a processor or anything. I played around in the kitchen and came up with a line of coated walnuts and began doing farmers markets with my partner Dave. Two years later we partnered with Poindexter Nut Company, and they helped us open a manufacturing facility here in the Central Valley.

HEI: How many acres and trees do you have?

Carini: We do not have any of our own trees. We purchase our walnuts wholesale from our partner, Poindexter Nut Company.

HEI: Do many people know walnuts are considered a superfood?

Carini: I have no data on how informed people are about it. The money for research in walnuts is funded by the California Walnut Commission. It is a tiny budget and is spent mostly on proving that walnuts have amazing benefits and not measuring how many people know about the nut’s health benefits. I do know that, in general, people consider them to be the healthiest nut after almonds. I would love to change that, because as I am sure most people in the health and wellness community know, walnuts are packed with way more omega-3s and antioxidants than any other nut. I consider that to be much healthier than just high protein like almonds.

HEI: You and your business partner have created numerous walnut recipes found on your website. Family traditions?

Carini: Only one was a family tradition, the orange walnut, and it was a confection with much more sugar in it. I lowered the sugar as much as possible and played with other ingredients to create the rest of the line. In our website blog recipes where we use walnuts, I just find those on Instagram and adapt them for our purposes. We have a big keto following, so I enjoy finding ways to replace carbs with our walnut snacks.

HEI: Talk about your nut and nut butter product line.

Carini: I try to keep my products as clean and healthy as possible. I am a clean eater, and I want my products to be something I can be proud of. I only use as much sugar as I need to make products palatable and act well with manufacturing processes, and I try to restrict ingredients to only things I would have in my own cupboard at home. I flavor my products with real food, not eyedropper flavorings. I think the coated walnut snacks are a healthy way to satisfy a sweet tooth, not just a lesser-evil, and my walnut butters are a fantastic way to add some omegas and antioxidants into a diet by replacing a pantry staple. We are also a walnut-only facility, so people with peanut and other tree nut allergies have another option.

HEI: So, you have an approach to healthy eating?

Carini: Personally, I have found that I cannot be extreme if I want to stick to it. I am remarkably busy, so I allow myself to buy foods that are convenient, but within that allowance, I try to pick the healthiest options. That is why I try to shop at places like Sprouts and Whole Foods. I also make a conscious effort to include fresh fruits and veggies somewhere in my diet each week. I am not super successful these days. There were a lot more options when I was living in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Fresno, where we are based, is overly saturated with burgers and tacos, and I cannot quite afford a personal chef just yet. LOL.

HEI: Can your products be found in retail locations nationwide?

Carini: Yes. Kroger (nuts), Walmart (butters), Dollar Tree (single-serve nuts), QVC (all), and Amazon; plus some random independents. Total is about 5,000 retail locations.

HEI: How have you been able to evaluate company success?

Carini: We track our growth every year based on gross revenue and retail locations. We are still steadily growing and adding new accounts each year.

HEI: What is the company’s sustainability involvement with Eden Reforestation?

Carini: Eden Reforestation Projects allows us to plant trees for 15 cents each. We have a place on our website that allows people to add that amount to their order, of which 100% is passed through to Eden. We also add incentives like offering a year’s supply of walnut snacks to the person who adds the most trees to their orders by the end of each year. So far, according to my own calculations, we have planted enough trees to far surpass our carbon footprint.

HEI: Where do you envision the most significant growth in the next few years?

Carini: Convenience channels and impulse snacking aisles will help us grow.

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About the Author: Sheldon Baker is CEO of Baker Dillon Group LLC and has created numerous nutraceutical brand marketing communications and public relations campaigns for well-known supplement and food industry companies. For Health E-Insights interview consideration or brand marketing consulting, contact him at SBaker@BakerDillon.com.