Discover Carriere Family Farms’ legacy as it pursues the carbon negative walnut
Located in Glenn, California, in the heart of the Sacramento Valley, Carriere Family Farms (Carriere) is a globally trusted family business dedicated to providing healthy products and high-quality services. The company’s core operations involve growing, processing, buying, marketing, and selling a variety of agricultural products, primarily walnuts. Fostering a company culture that inspires growth, teamwork, continuous improvement, and world-class performance, Carriere maximizes value through the effectiveness of its people, processes, long-term relationships, and financial resources. To learn more about the company’s rich history, we speak to Bill Carriere, CEO.
“My great grandfather immigrated to the US in the 1890s and began farming row crops while working on a neighboring farm as his main job. After marrying the eldest daughter of that farm, he started his own little farm. Together, they had several children, including my grandfather. While the other children pursued their own paths, my grandfather grew the family farm, primarily cultivating rice and row crops. He also operated a metal shop where he built and repaired equipment for other farmers, especially during the winter months. Later, he had three children: my father, my uncle and my aunt. My uncle and father expanded the farm, with my father purchasing a walnut orchard in 1964, which allowed us to enter the walnut market. When they returned from college and the army, my uncle focused on managing the rice, while my father took charge of the walnut operations.
“In 1985, we partnered with a Spanish family business named Borges International Group (Borges), which was purchasing walnuts from the companies we were selling to. Seeking to vertically integrate, Borges invested in an orchard here in California, and we negotiated to manage the property. This partnership effectively doubled the size of our farm. By that time, I had returned from college and was joined by several of my cousins working on the farm. One of my cousins was an expert in water management, one in construction, another in crop production, and I focused on business operations. In 2000, we further expanded our operations by adding processing capabilities for walnuts. We began processing directly for Borges, handling their orchards and supplying their market. Five years ago, after 36 years of partnership, we bought out Borges, and now Carriere runs the entire operation. Today, we have eight family members working within the company, and our farm is large enough to support an HR director, a CFO, and an IT specialist. We aim to provide jobs and support for our community, our family, and our employees, all while ensuring we deliver quality products to our customers. Recently, we received the Plant of the Year award from Safe Food California following a surprise audit where we achieved a perfect score of 100 percent,” Bill elaborates.
Reinvestment strategy
In the farming business for generations, Carriere has experienced many ups and downs but has persevered through it all. We learn from Bill what has enabled the company’s longevity and success in the industry. “Our long-term strategy is to reinvest as much as possible into the business. For example, my uncle and my father were very generous; instead of using the money to live a luxurious life and leaving us with debt, they chose to put the money back into the company. Reinvesting in the company set us up for long-term growth. I would even argue that we have been at the forefront of cost-saving, environmentally friendly options, such as solar panels. We currently harness close to two megawatts of solar power to support everything from our wells to our office and processing facility. Being proactive in environmental stewardship not only saves us money but also represents an upfront investment that will help keep our costs down in the future. Locking in our energy prices is especially important, as electricity costs in California have doubled in the last five years and are expected to continue to climb,” he enlightens.
Commitment to carbon reduction
In line with its commitment to eco-friendly practices, Carriere has implemented a process that gives new life to everything brought in from the orchard, as Bill explains. “We compost all of the waste generated from our hulling operation. When we bring in the walnuts, we wash and scrub them, remove the leaves, grass and any damaged nuts, and then compost all the organic material. Moreover, we have just received approval from the local county to build a thermal conversion system that transforms our walnut shells into renewable natural gas. Developed by SynTech Holdings, LLC, it is a high-temperature conversion process that heats the shell to 900 degrees Celsius in a low-oxygen environment, causing all the organic material in the shell to volatilize. Because there is almost no oxygen, the carbon in the shell does not combine to form carbon dioxide. Instead, it solidifies and settles at the bottom, creating biocarbon, which is a versatile product with many applications. This process results in virtually zero emissions.
“For instance, we can put the biocarbon back into our fields through our composting operations, effectively sequestering carbon for hundreds of years. There are also commercial markets for biocarbon, where it can be processed into high-value materials such as carbon black, graphene, or graphite. Biocarbon can also partially replace conventional materials in various products. For example, while plastics cannot be made entirely from biocarbon, it can replace a portion of the petroleum-based materials or carbon black used in plastic manufacturing, thereby enhancing its environmental sustainability. We also have other sustainability initiatives beyond repurposing our walnut shell. In addition to our recently completed megawatt of solar panels on our plant, we have partnered with a British company called BX Technologies Limited to assess our carbon footprint. The goal of this initiative is to continue to identify opportunities for increasing our efficiencies while further reducing our carbon footprint. We hope to deliver high quality, healthy, carbon negative walnuts to our customers,” Bill ends.
Carriere’s intergenerational expertise, innovative spirit, and commitment to environmentally friendly practices have placed it as a leader in California’s agricultural landscape. With a strong family culture, which now includes the fifth generation family members at the helm and ambitious plans for the future, the business is poised for lasting growth and impact.