REAL INGREDIENTS YOU CAN TRUST.
Ingredients
At Big Spoon Roasters, every jar and bar begins long before we roast a walnut or grind an almond. It begins with the farms, artisans, and communities that produce the ingredients we rely upon. Ingredient integrity is at the heart of our craft and a primary reason the foods we make taste the way they do: rich, fresh, vibrant, and deeply satisfying.
We choose ingredients with intention, prioritizing quality, environmental sustainability, and fair labor practices. When ingredients are grown with care, the people and ecosystems behind them thrive—and so does flavor. By supporting Big Spoon and food produced without compromise, you are “voting with your dollars” to support a growing network of people and practices that put these values into action.
Ingredient Integrity: What It Means to Us
Quality You Can Taste
We source only premium, minimally processed ingredients that preserve their natural aroma, flavor, and nutrients. No shortcuts, fillers, or unnamed chemicals disguised as “natural flavors."
Environmental Sustainability
Our partners use regenerative and environmentally responsible practices that protect soil health, conserve water, and support biodiversity. Healthier ecosystems create healthier ingredients—and more flavorful nut butter. Lots of our ingredients are Certified Organic, and we will always be advocates for Organic agriculture, but we also recognize that a single certification is not always the best measure of sustainability, quality, and/or regenerative practices. Our ingredient choices are based not only on certifications, but also on the complete processes and labor conditions behind them.
Social Sustainability & Fair Labor
We work with suppliers who pay fair wages, ensure safe working conditions, and support local communities. Ethical supply chains make better food; it’s that simple.
Celebrating Food Traditions
We honor the culinary histories behind our ingredients—from heirloom nuts to heritage spices—supporting growers who preserve cultural knowledge and regional farming practices. We love learning about and sharing the stories behind our ingredients, the recipes they inspire, and the global food traditions they carry across cultures.
Food Safety You Can Rely On
Your safety comes first. Every ingredient we source undergoes rigorous evaluation before it ever enters our kitchen.
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Our nuts are tested for aflatoxin, mold, and other physical, chemical, and microbiological hazards.
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Our nuts are PPO-free. Propylene oxide (PPO) is a chemical that is used to pasteurize almonds and other raw nut meats. PPO is FDA approved and has been used by the nut industry for decades to reduce bacteria, yeasts, mold, and insects. However, PPO has been shown to be a carcinogen, and ingesting large amounts of it can cause health problems. So, we avoid it, and our tree nuts are steam pasteurized without the use of PPO.
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COAs (Certificates of Analysis): We obtain clean bills of health for our ingredients, verifying the absence of harmful contaminants.
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Internal Testing: Some small-scale, family-owned food artisans – such as the family who grows and produces our sorghum syrup – don’t have the resources to do lab analyses, so we conduct in-house microbiological and heavy metal testing to ensure the purity and safety of our final products.
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Soil & Field Standards: Our suppliers maintain clean, healthy soil free from toxins and unsafe pesticide residues.
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Traceability: We know where every ingredient is from and how it is produced.
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Freshness also plays a critical role in safety and quality. That’s why we maintain our in-house, small-batch process that allows us to roast, grind, and blend to order, making every snack or spoonful as fresh, delicious, and safe as possible.
A Deeper Look at a Few Signature Ingredients
High-Oleic Runner Peanuts
These are not your average peanuts. Our High-Oleic Runner peanuts come directly from a group of farms right here in our home state of North Carolina.
High-Oleic Runner peanuts are prized for their:
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Superior flavor: Naturally sweeter and more aromatic.
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Healthy fats: High in monounsaturated fats (like olive oil), offering better stability and nutrition.
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Longer shelf life: Naturally resistant to rancidity without additives.
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Sustainable growing practices: More often grown using regenerative or soil-preserving methods. Their higher fatty acid concentrations make them less susceptible to mold and therefore have less need for anti-mold inputs.
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Their nostalgic, rich roasted peanut flavor is the foundation of our best-selling nut butters like our Crunchy Peanut Butter and Good Food Award-winning Lum Lum Thai Curry Peanut & Cashew Butter.
Certified Pollinator-Friendly Heirloom Mission Almonds
Our heirloom Mission Almonds are grown using pollinator-safe practices on a family-owned farm operation in California preserving varietal diversity and water conservation. The Mission variety was discovered in Texas about 100 years ago, and we were the first commercial nut butter business in the world to exclusively use this variety and call it out on our packaging. While they have a reputation for being “short, stubby, and ugly” compared to the more well-known Nonpareil variety you most often see in grocery store bulk bins, Missions are the sweetest, crunchiest, and most delicious almonds in the world.
What makes them exceptional:
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Bee-friendly agriculture: Absolutely no harmful pesticides that endanger pollinators.
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Heirloom genetics: Deep, bold almond flavor unavailable in mass-produced varieties.
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Minimal processing: No bleaching, blanching, or chemical treatments. We keep the nutritious, delicious almond skins on!
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Climate-smart farming: Lower-water practices help conserve regional ecosystems.
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These almonds are the soul of our Almond Butter Collection, delivering unmatched flavor, depth, and nuance.
Organic Fair Labor Certified Cashews
Cashews are one of the most delicious, nutritious nuts in the world. We love working with them and are continually inspiredd by their rich, nutty flavor and distinctively creamy texture. The cashew industry is unfortunately plagued by unfair and exploitive labor conditions, but our Certified Organic cashews come from a Fair Labor (SMETA) Certified community of growers in Vietnam with a vertically integrated operation that includes farming, sorting, cleaning, and packing for export.
These cashews are:
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Organic: No synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
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Fair Labor Certified: Ensuring safe working conditions in an industry where exploitation is common.
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Naturally creamy and delicious: Producing a velvety texture with a naturally clean cashew flavor.
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Hand-harvested and carefully processed: Protecting both the flavor and the workers who prepare them.
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You’ll taste the difference in favorites like Cashew Butter with Coconut Nectar and Lemon Cookie Cashew & Coconut Butter.
More Individual Ingredient Details
Pecans – Our Certified Organic pecans are harvested from three family-owned orchards in Texas and Mexico. We roast our pecans a tad darker than other nuts to bring out their naturally sweet, caramelized flavor.
Hazelnuts – Our hazelnuts are Barcelona and Clark variety, sourced directly from vertically integrated grower-processors in Oregon. Although they aren’t certified organic, these Oregon growers use natural pest control systems without harmful chemicals.
Pistachios – Our pistachios are grown, shelled, and processed in California’s Central Valley without chemical pesticides and packed to order. They are steam pasteurized, unlike most conventional tree nuts that are pasteurized using PPO.
Walnuts – Our English variety walnuts are primarily the Chandler sub-variety, grown and packed in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys. These walnuts are pleasantly rich and naturally sweet, becoming even sweeter with a light roast.
Sea Salt – Our sea salt comes from Jacobsen Salt Co. It is hand-harvested from the pristine waters of the Netarts Bay on the Oregon coast. To learn more about Jacobsen and how their incredible salt is made, click here.
Honey – Our Certified Organic raw wildflower honey comes from the Sunderbans National Park in Bengal, India, which also serves as a sanctuary for the region’s tigers and other wildlife.
Sorghum – Our small-batch sorghum syrup comes from Muddy Pond Sorghum Mill in Muddy Pond, TN. Learn more about this family farm here.
Coconut Nectar – We source Fairtrade, Organic Coconut Nectar from Java, Indonesia. Coconut nectar comes directly from the coconut blossom. It can be used as a liquid or dehydrated and pounded into a dry powder. We use both forms. Minimally processed, coconut nectar is rich in minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium, and it imparts a delicious note of caramel-like flavor. A low-glycemic source of sweetness, it only contains a fraction of the fructose found in regular sugar.
Organic Maple Syrup – Our organic maple syrup comes from Bascom Family Farms and Butternut Mountain Farm, both in Vermont. We use a crystalized version to provide added texture, and a liquid maple syrup to make house-baked granola (for our bars).
Cane Sugar – Our cane sugar is 100% raw, organic, Fair Trade Certified demerara sugar.
Chocolate - Our chocolate comes from French Broad Chocolates in Asheville, NC, Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh, NC, and TCHO in Berkeley, CA. These bean-to-bar, craft chocolate makers take immense care in ethically and sustainably sourcing their ingredients. Note: Our chocolate comes to us in solid form. We gently melt it before adding it to our nut butters. Because we use such a large amount of chocolate, in the cold winter months the chocolate can re-solidify, giving our Chocolate Sea Salt Almond Butter or (seasonal exclusive) Dark Chocolate Hazelnut & Almond Butter a harder texture. We recommend heating the jar in a warm water bath or very low oven or for about 10 minutes for a more spreadable texture.
Cocoa Nibs – Our cocoa nibs come from Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh, NC.
Cinnamon – We have a passion for great cinnamon, and the best cinnamon in the world grows on the slopes of volcanoes close to the equator. We work with the incomparable Red Ape Cinnamon for all our cinnamon needs. They source lush, robust Cassia, or “Saigon,” cinnamon from the tropical island of Sumatra, Indonesia, and they bring in warm, complex Ceylon cinnamon from Sri Lanka. Red Ape’s partnering producers’ trees grow for at least 15 years, producing super concentrated cinnamon bark. The bark is harvested, sun dried and ground slowly to produce a lush, flavorful spice. There is no other cinnamon like this in the world. All their products are Certified Organic, and they test every batch for heavy metals.
In addition, Red Ape is a leader in sustainable spice agriculture, tropical ecosystem preservation, and animal habitat protection. A portion of their profits gets donated to organizations that protect orangutans and their habitat. These funds go towards adopting orangutans and donating to groups that protect this critically endangered species. They also donate to the Orangutan Species Survival Plan for the advancement of the conservation of orangutans and the Orangutan Information Centre for the protection of the Sumatran orangutan and its habitat.
Ginger – Our crystallized Fiji Ginger is from The Ginger People. They work with local farmers on the island of Fiji and invested in a local processing facility to ensure opportunities for the people of Viti Levu. Learn more about our ginger here. Our Organic ginger powder has a lemon pepper aroma and bold flavor. The rich and flavorful ginger is sourced directly from India by our friends at Red Ape Cinnamon.
Gluten-Free Oats – We use Certified Organic, Certified Gluten Free oats from a third generation, family-owned grain farming business located in Nunn, CO.
Pea Protein Powder – The peas in our protein powder are grown organically by farmers in the northern U.S. and Canada. These yellow peas are a “dry crop” and require little to no irrigation. The harvested peas are dried and shipped to our vendor’s manufacturing facility, where they are milled into a fine powder. The powder is immersed in water (which is reused), and then a centrifuge mechanically separates the proteins from the starches and fibers. Then, to improve flavor, texture, and functionality, the protein is treated only with organic food-grade enzymes and citric acid. Our protein is not treated with harmful chemicals or submerged in petroleum-based hexane.
Dried Apricots and Figs – The best dried apricots and figs we've ever tasted come from the ancient tree fruit growing regions of Greece and Turkey, respectively. These dried fruits are imported and packed by hand into small cases, perfect for our small-batch process.
Dried Blueberries, Cranberries, and Cherries – We source these dried fruits from Michigan-based Shoreline Fruit, who work directly with individual sustainable growers in their region.
Ingredients We Will Never Use
Some ingredients simply don’t belong in real food. Here’s a growing “Nope List” of ingredients we will not use in our foods. We also avoid all forms of:
Palm Oil
Palm oil is linked to severe deforestation, habitat destruction, and labor abuses, primarily in equatorial regions of Africa, Asia, and South America. As an ingredient, palm oil only adds convenience, and we think natural, ethical nut butters are always worth a little stirring. Learn more about why we avoid palm oil here and here.
Hydrogenated Oils
Hydrogenated oils, like palm oil, are added to many nut butters to bind with natural nut oils so they won’t separate. Often, ultra-processed and used to mask poor ingredient quality, these oils add neither flavor nor nutrition. Our nut butters are made from nuts and other whole ingredients, not fillers.
Artificial or “Natural” Flavors
The term “natural flavors” can legally include hundreds of undisclosed additives. We believe you deserve real flavor from real ingredients like vanilla beans, spices, whole nuts, and fruits.
Preservatives or Coloring Agents
We embrace natural textures and colors. Oil separation happens because our nut butters are made from food, not chemicals. For example, our Limited Batch Linzer Cookie nut butter was pink because there was the equivalent of a pound of raspberries in every jar, not because of a chemical coloring agent.
Why It All Matters
Choosing ingredients with integrity is more than a sourcing philosophy—it shapes every aspect of Big Spoon Roasters:
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Cleaner flavor with nothing masking the richness of fresh-roasted nuts and whole ingredients.
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Better nutrition from minimally processed foods.
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A healthier planet supported by ethical, environmentally sound farming.
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Stronger communities protected by fair labor practices.
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When you choose Big Spoon Roasters, you choose food that’s delicious, transparent, and responsibly made.
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