A family tradition for over 70 years.
In 1946, grocer Ralph Hammons noticed a lot of wild Black Walnuts growing all over Southwest Missouri. Seeing the future potential of this local crop, he bought a cracking machine and began buying Black Walnuts from the hardworking Ozarks people who gathered them each fall.
Over 70 years later, Hammons Products Company is still family-owned. The tradition has been carried on by Ralph’s son, Dwain, and now grandson, Brian as well as great-grandson, Jacob, making four generations of Hammons entrepreneurial leaders.
Hammons Products Company continues to buy Black Walnuts the same way Ralph did in 1946. Coming to the company from over 215 local buying stations across 11 states, the efforts of thousands of people working together has helped make the American Black Walnut an integral piece of Midwest culture and a staple ingredient in many sweet and savory recipes.
The processing plant in the small lake town of Stockton, Missouri, just northwest of Springfield, Missouri. It has grown over the years to shell roughly 25 million pounds of nuts annually, producing Black Walnut nutmeats for food ingredients and ground nut shells for industrial uses. The plant is certified SQF level-3 for safe, quality food — one of the first in the nut industry to achieve that high level.
The Hammons Products Company mission is To lead and grow the Black Walnut nut industry, providing quality nut products and superior service, with the highest integrity in all we do. It is their family history to ensure that the hand-harvested and locally sourced Black Walnut finds its way to dinner tables across the country.
For more information on where you can buy Hammons Black Walnuts, click here or purchase them from the Hammons online store.
