Lately, we’ve been hearing much more than usual from the growers of tree nuts. Given the upsurge of interest in nuts in the past two years or so, that should be no surprise. What does surprise me is the string of head-to-head face-offs that have developed…
A famous story from the Second World War recounts a meeting between a US General and German Gener-al during the Battle of the Bulge. The German demand-ed his American counterpart surrender. The American re-plied replied with one word: ‘NUTS!’
That colloquial expression – which any English-speaker would understand immed-iately – left the German High Command baffled for hours. Long enough for General George Patton’s army from the south to link up with General Anthony McAuliffe’s troops in the north. Allowing the combined force to stem the enemy advance – Ger-many’s last aggressive ‘gasp’ of the War in Europe…
The Wars of the Nuts
Who would have thought that nuts, themselves, would go to War over market share with the same ruthless aggressiveness as combatants in a World War? Yet, Pistachios stood an (animated) elephant (mascot) up on its hind legs a few years back to proclaim their natural superiority over the world’s baseline standard in snacking legumes, peanuts.
Advertising ‘creative’ types and their consumer audi-ence had a lot of fun following Wonderful Pistachios‘ Ernie the Elephant and his anti-peanut antics. And consumer awareness of the alternative, ‘healthier’ nut increased significantly in response.
A ‘second season’ of the popular TV ads partnered Ernie with former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman to tout the health and vitality benefits of Pistachios. Ernie hung out the entire season at the stadium, kibitzing with Sherman on the field, or watching, critically, from the stands. And cementing his place in the Mascots’ Hall of Fame…
Enter, a dark horse
Then, a few months ago… A dark horse started surging from the back of the pack, proclaiming super-ior health and wellness benefits to Pistachios. The formerly shy and retiring Pecan elbowed its way onto centre stage with bold, feature-for-feature comparisons to Pistachios which suggested the Pecan was the clear winner. (See image above, left.)
Science agrees
A new study by researchers from Wild Hive reports: “A sweeping new scientific review suggests that pecans — America’s native nut — may pack more heart power than many people realize. After anal-yzing over 20 years of research, scientists found consistent evidence that eating pecans can improve key markers of cardiovascular health, including total cholesterol and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, while also supporting antioxidant defenses.”
My take
The obvious question is… Who will be ‘nuts enough’ to come out against the Pecan?
~ Maggie J.