Peanut Butter, PBJ Sandwiches, Reese’s Butter Cups, Snickers, Peanut Butter Twinkies, Salted Peanuts, and more. Ahhh delicious right? Peanuts aren’t tree nuts either, they are planted and grown underground. This savory legume is not an actual nut, despite its name. I know, how ironic, right? Peanuts are used in several food products, animal feed, food processing, oil production, etcetera.
Peanuts keep the soil in which they grow rich, they use very little water, and they have the lowest carbon footprint produced than any other plant or crop. The legume is densely nutritional and helps in maintaining a sustainable diet. Rich in fat, fiber, protein, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, weight loss, heart health, and digestion are improved with regular and balanced consumption of this legume.
In agricultural conservation, peanuts are known to grow better in calcium-rich, sandy loam soil that is well-drained and in a climate that is warm, exceeding 21℃. In Europe, over 74% of the legume productions are made in Bulgaria and 22% in Greece. Netherlands, Germany, and Spain too are producers of Peanuts. In Valencia, Spain, peanuts are going extinct, especially the 2 species of Collaret and Cacaua. This article will talk about the journey where Founder – Ana Climent led a huge rescue mission project that became successful. She founded Ca Climent – a start-up business that rescues peanuts of Collaret and Cacaua, to bring the native, organic, and original Valencia peanuts back to the once dormant fields of La Granja de la Costera.
About the Founder – Ana Climent, Founder of Ca Climent:
The founder of Ca Climent is Ana Climent. The name “Climent” is a generational name. As a little girl, Ana recalls that she along with her parents and grandparents would plant and grow the Collaret and Cacaua peanuts species in their fields of La Granja de la Costera. This is a small municipality area in the Valencia province of Spain.
Ana Climent has a Journalism Degree from the University of Valencia and a Master’s Degree in Marketing Management from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. After her education, the founder worked in various positions in several companies, such as – a Production Assistant at MediaUni University of Valencia, a Content Manager at La Maga Rooms, and a Content Writer at Hello Valencia. Ana finally founded Ca Climent with the help and support of her father – Eduardo Climent.
Although Ana moved away from home for work, she regularly visited her hometown in La Granja de la Costera. Then the unfortunate COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world. Everyone was quarantined and nobody was allowed to travel. Ana had always enjoyed the Cacaua peanuts that her family used to grow in their fields many years ago. However, due to the Pandemic, the planting and cultivation of legumes was brought to a standstill. Peanuts were soon seen to be imported into Spain from China and the USA. The nearby supermarkets were selling imported packages of peanuts, and most were also labeled as “Valencia” or “Collaret”. She realized that the peanuts that were imported didn’t even taste the same though the label read “Valencia Peanuts ”.
Ana was disappointed. Residing in a province that once cultivated massive numbers of peanuts, An wanted the province to bring back the cultivation and production of the legume. Hence Ana came up with a project to rescue the extinct organic and native peanut species of Collaret and Cacaua back to their fields and lands. This was the inspiring moment that urged her to build Ca Climent.
About CA CLIMENT:
Ca Climent – founded by Ana Climent, in the year 2021. Wanting to support his daughter’s ventures in a much-needed cause, Eduardo Climent helped Ana a lot initially when the business project was starting to take shape and gain momentum. Ca Climent is established in La Granja de la Costera, Valencia, Spain.
With the integration of sustainable farming practices and initiatives, Ca Climent also takes it up a notch in sustainably packaging their produce in recyclable and biodegradable materials such as paper and PLA (Polylactic acid – a thermoplastic polyester made from corn). Their efforts always pay off as the reduction in carbon footprint in 200g of local and close supply chain is 22 times better than the peanut cultivation and export process from the USA.
“We believe in agriculture that maintains tradition and cultivates innovation, that which is redesigned to be more sustainable.”
Along with her family, Ana Climent grows, cultivates, and produces Collaret and Cacaua peanut species in their family fields. With the vision to – “Rescue crops in danger of extinction”, Ca Climent is on a mission to – “Create new opportunities for traditional varieties, now in danger of extinction”. A 4-time generational farmer family, Ana turned the once dormant fields into flourishing peanut-rich crops, and slowly revived Valencia peanut cultivations and recovered authentic flavors. Keeping the supply chain short and close, Ca Climent Project rescues, revitalizes, recovers, grows, cultivates, roasts, and sells its produce for local and national consumption only.