By PATWA
There has been a recent push towards almond butter, however when customers get to the price they think twice. So why is almond butter so expensive? It hasn’t always enjoyed the popularity that peanut butter has and that accounts for some of the increase, but not all, so I called the good folks at the Once Again Nut Butter Collective, which supplies the bulk of our almond butter. The No. 1 reason they gave was climate change. Almond trees must grow to full maturity before they flower and bear nuts. They are also a crop which will grow only in certain places in the world (for Once Again, in California or Italy), and crops in these places are producing less flowers, thus less nuts. Demand is high, which makes the price rise. I also called the good folks at Tierra Farms and they concurred.
At the North Country Food Co-op we mark up the Once Again Nut Butters a bit less than normal just to make the prices reasonable. Remember, these folks aren’t a huge corporation, and so must charge a higher price for their amazing products to make enough money to pay it’s workers/owners a livable wage. Check out their website, you’ll see they are worth supporting. Currently our almond butters range in price from $11-$20, depending on whether you want organic or not. All our Once Again nut butters are from Regional Access, which offer bulk discounts, so you can be sure that the prices are as low as possible. If you do bite the nut and purchase almond butter, remember you save with a Co-op membership. Eat less, and savor. Also, more almonds are needed to make butter so what you eat is “almond dense.” Mangia! Or, try another nut butter.
Last note: all Once Again almond butter is sodium free, sugar free, gluten free, kosher and vegan.