ANNOUNCEMENT: Our Premium Pecan Oil is a 2022 Good Food Awards Winner!
Tawny MonawarWe here at Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company are incredibly honored to announce our title of winner at the 2022 Good Food Awards, hosted by the Good Food Foundation! This prestigious award is given only to producers who craft premium products that meet stringent standards in quality and sustainability, and our Premium Pecan Oil bottled up the competition in our very first year of entry!
Stout Competition: The Good Food Awards
Every year, artisans, growers, and food crafters compete to garner the title of Good Food Awards winner; however, only a handful of submissions are chosen after a stringent vetting process and blind tasting conducted by a panel of industry heavyweights.
To even be considered for the award, oil crafters must adhere to elite environmental and social standards in sourcing and processing. Guidelines in production ensure that a Good oil is minimally-processed, ethically-sourced, equitably-produced, and free from unnecessary additives and treatments.
A Matter of Taste
With attention to taste and quality, judges carefully select only three winning oils from each region, meaning Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company Premium Pecan Oil has been named as one of the best-tasting oils in America. Although we have switched to pecan oil for all of our family recipes and know first-hand the difference in flavor it makes, it is fantastic to receive the unbiased reassurance that our Premium Pecan Oil really does taste “dadgum good”!
How does Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company Premium Pecan Oil Measure Up?
We take immense pride in each of our handcrafted items; however, we consider our Premium Pecan Oil to be the crown jewel in our lineup of premium pecan products. As a family of lifetime farmers, we adhere to rural principles that have trickled down through generations of hardworking, salt-of-the-earth folks. We take our role as stewards of the land very seriously.
Our passion for the industry and respect for the opportunities we have been given have led us to pour our heart and soul into every drop of pecan oil we put forth. We did not hesitate to throw our hat into the competition as the Good Food guidelines already aligned with our principles upon which we craft our pecan oil. Here are the standards we have vowed to meet:
For a long time, certifications for responsible practices and awards for superior taste have remained distinct – one honors social and environmental responsibility, while the other celebrates craftsmanship and flavor. The Good Food Awards recognizes that truly good food – the kind that brings people together and builds strong, healthy communities – contains all of these ingredients.
Good Food Award Standards
- Made in the USA or US territories. We squeeze and bottle every single drop of our Premium Pecan Oil at our facility on the Llano Estacado of Texas. Every product of ours is concurrently GO TEXAN certified.
- Made with olives, avocados, nuts or seeds. Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company exclusively utilizes locally-sourced, Texas pecans for our pecan oil. We not only press our own pecans, but shell them, too! Because we are involved in every step of the pecan process, we confidently know exactly where our pecans have come from and exactly how they have been handled.
- Pressed from ingredients from the most recent harvest. We wholeheartedly believe that the freshest pecans make the freshest-tasting oil. After harvesting and shelling, we place pecans in cold storage until they are ready to be pressed, bottled, and shipped to your kitchen.
- Free of genetically modified ingredients. All varieties of pecans grown in the U.S. are inherently GMO-free. You can read more about American pecan propagation and GMO status here.
- Free of artificial ingredients, including colors, flavors or preservatives. Our premium, golden pecan oil is made from one single ingredient: premium, golden pecans. We do not add any flavorings, colors, or preservatives to our Premium Pecan Oil as the pecans shine all on their own!
- Use ingredients grown using fair labor practices. Because our leadership is also involved in orchard management, we can confidently state that the pecans we source for our oil have been grown in Texas using ethical and fair labor practices. Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company vehemently believes in the human element of farming and agriculture, and only sources pecans produced in an ethical manner by people who are treated with dignity and respect.
- Use ingredients grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers.* (*Oils made with avocados, nuts or seeds grown with minimal synthetic inputs using Integrated Pest management practices will be permitted.) Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company actively seeks out pecans that have been grown in alignment with our own values in land stewardship, meaning crops have received the minimum possible treatment in conjunction with an Integrated Pest Management program. Furthermore, as growers weathering the ups and downs of farming in a drought-affected area for the entirety of our lives, we source pecans produced in accordance with ethical water practices that minimize waste.
- Oil comes from a first crushing or milling and is not subjected to added heat or chemical extractors throughout the entire process. Any time we formulate a product, we aim to do so in the most quality way possible, even if that way takes longer or is more work. Our avoidance of cutting corners extends to our pecan oil, which is pressed only one time and without the use of additives or heat treatment. Many producers apply heat or infuse volatile, petroleum-based solvents into the nut to extract as much oil as possible; however, the thought of cooking our own meals with rancid, petroleum-doused pecan oil does not appeal to us! As such, we only use cold-pressing and chemical-free filtration methods to make our Premium Pecan Oil.
- The entry is not a third party private label oil, where finished oil from another source has been purchased and rebranded. Some may consider us a family full of “control freaks”; however, we see it as more of an urge to ensure perfection. We’re the type of boot-strap folks who embody the phrase, “if you want it done right, do it yourself”. Anything bearing the Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company name is made by us, for us, and will not ever be made by anyone but us–and our oil is no exception!
- Made by a crafter that is an upstanding member of the good food community, committed to equity and inclusion in all levels of their business. Aside from our status as an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively engages in inclusive hiring practices and training, Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company makes a conscious effort to promote initiatives in supporting women in agriculture and agribusiness; as such, the majority of our workforce and leadership identifies as female and/or female with a minority background.
Field-to-Fork, from Our Family to Yours
No matter how much passion we have for our product, our efforts and awards are meaningless without the thousands of customers who support our family’s dream of bringing the world premium pecan products through Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Company. Every evening, we take a moment to stand on the front porch and gaze upon the wind-swept prairie, perpetually in awe of the blessings we have been afforded from strangers who have become friends, and friends who have become family. We could not have made this achievement without you.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for believing in us…every step of the way.
Much love,
