Thank you all

2021 is almost at an end and 2022 is about to begin. Before we start a new year - to which we look forward to - we first want to thank everybody that made 2021 a great year. Yes, the world still faces challenges like the pandemic, lack of raw materials, increasing cost prices, etc. etc., but we look back with gratitude and joy. And that’s of course thanks to our loyal and committed staff and all existing, growing and new business relationships.

Thank you all! We’re ready for the new year to come and we welcome you to come along with us.

Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2022.

Peanut free, naturally

Especially for the food industry (chocolate, ice cream, cereals, etc.), we can produce ingredients with the most delicious #100%natural flavours and without a single trace of peanut. Our peanut free facility is BRCGS Food Safety (AA-level) certified.

Both production facilities are strictly separated. Our policies, procedures and protocols emphasize the strict rules to keep out all (traces and residues of) peanuts of our peanut free facility. This applies to the machines but also to all instruments, tools, (packaging) materials, forklift trucks and of course our personnel, their work gear and lunches.

Unique in the world of caramelised ingredients, but very common for us. Peanut free, naturally!

Celebrate for Charity

Since the early start of Virgin Nuts, every year our employees have been delighted with chocolate to celebrate 'Sinterklaas' (Saint Nicholas). This year we break this tradition, but it’s for a good cause.

This year we’ve surprised our staff with a gingerbread doll from Bliss to Shine. The Bliss to Shine foundation supports families dealing with cancer by fulfilling wishes of their children and family members.

We congratulate #blisstoshine with their record sale of more than 10,000 #gingerbread dolls. Our staff is more than happy that this year’s treat is for a good cause.

Sustainable and equitable cashews

In this #greenfriday week, initiated by Trees for All, we highlight sustainable cashew trade that reduces CO2-emissions.

We know that it’s not only about providing the best honey coated nuts in the world. Besides sustainable production and packaging, Virgin Nuts values sustainable and equitable trade and we’re proud to re-announce our “Virgin Fair Nuts” specialty line with #fairtrade cashews from nuts2.

Green Friday: Go Green

On Friday 26 November it’s 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝔽𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕪 🍃, the moment to emphasize that Virgin Nuts is green, even on Black Friday.

#GreenFriday is initiated by @TreesforAll and, just like Virgin Nuts, more than 150 brands and companies are participating in Green Friday. The target? To plant 50,000 trees together 🌳.
You can join us all in achieving this goal. Go Green and plant one or more trees at treesforall.nl/greenfriday. This is how we work together for a green and healthy earth 💚.

Here comes the sun

What’s better than waking up when the sun is shining? Well, the answer is: waking up with the sun ánd a bowl full of delicious breakfast cereals.

Based on your requirements, Virgin Nuts creates the most delicious granolas for your customers. You don’t have to worry about sugar levels, because we do. We compose granolas according to your nutritional requirements resp. the requested nutri-score and still full of flavour and crunch.

Cost price 2022

As for the entire food industry, 2021 has been a year of major changes. This year we have tried to absorb price increases in raw materials, packaging, but also labour and logistics costs as much as possible. Despite our efforts, we’re forced to increase our cost price in 2022, given the extreme fluctuations in the world market and the availability of raw materials (ingredients and packaging material), but also other rising cost factors like utilities and inflation correction of wages.

This raise does not affect orders and contracts for 2022 that already have been confirmed resp. signed before 10 November 2021. For all new orders and contracts for production in 2022 (including contract coating), the cost price part of our prices will raise.

If the prices of the raw nuts will go down, you probably will not perceive the raise, but if those prices will remain at the same level (or worse: increase), a price change will be perceptible.

We appreciate our collaboration and we thank you in advance for understanding. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us by email or telephone (+31 317 612019).

Xmas closure 2021

Our factories are closed from 23 December 2021 to 2 January 2022. Our warehouses and office are closed from 25 December 2021 to 2 January 2022. Business will resume as usual on January 3rd, next.

For products to be produced before Christmas, send us your order before 3 December next. For your orders to be ready in the first week of 2022, please make sure to send them in before December 10, next.

Don’t trick but treat your customers

For this Halloween weekend, make sure that you don’t trick your customers with an empty bowl, but treat them with spooky delicious caramelised almond with slippery honey and blood red hot chili.

Not in to spicy and maybe not even in to Halloween? No worries, we can offer about 200,000 other caramelised or dry roasted seasoned nuts and seeds to treat your customers, and not only on Halloween. Think honey lavender, dry roasted rosemary, vanilla sea salt, gingerbread, maple, etc. etc. All #loveatfirstbite freshly produced products with only natural ingredients, thus without artificial colouring and flavouring. Doesn’t that sound like a treat?

Contact us for more information and rest assured: the ghosts will be disappeared after Sunday… Happy Halloween 🎃

Kosher @ Virgin Nuts: more than a symbol

Since 2018 Virgin Nuts is kosher certified under strict supervision of Rabbi P.A. Meyers of Antwerp (Belgium) from the Hager Kashrus Committee (the Rabbinical Board for Kosher Certification). We’re pleased to confirm that Virgin Nuts has a kosher quality mark for all caramelised products (the objective of the Kosher audit).

Kosher is so much more than a symbol. It ensures that accredited products - no matter if you choose just caramelised nuts, seeds or cereals or with an addition of honey, cinnamon, maple, gingerbread or vanilla and even if you want herbs and/or spices added - are strictly Kosher and are produced according to the Kosher rules and guidelines.

Our Kosher certificate is internationally renowned and stands for reliability and quality. With certified products, even more people can enjoy the caramelised products that we can produce for you. Contact us for more information on our kosher products.

A fragrant autumn

In the upper half of our earth it’s autumn and that’s the season for warm and fragrant flavours like cinnamon, gingerbread and speculoos.

Think caramelised cashews dusted with cinnamon or caramelised almonds with gingerbread or speculoos, both ingredients with main spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves to uplift every type of food or moment to a #loveatfirstbite and comforting one.

All these aromatic spices combine very well with caramelised nuts and guarantee a comforting autumn and winter. You can have your customers already lighting the fireplace because now you can bring them these seasonal snack nuts for cosy long and tasty snacking moments.
Happy autumn… Enjoy!

Oriental spiced

Have you ever experienced the Oriental way of life? If not this year, then maybe next year, or later, or just now to bring your customers @ home a delightful Dry roasted oriental spiced nut & seed mix.

Besides oriental, we have many, many #absolutelydelicious natural herbs & spices to season your favourite dry roasted nuts and seeds. All are simply #loveatfirstbite.

It is for good reason that a journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step...

Organic caramelised nut ingredients

Check out our #absolutelydelicious #organic caramelised nut ingredients, especially for the food industry (#organicchocolate, #organicicecream, #organiccereals, etc.).

Ice cream: Thanks to our artisanal coating, the diced/broken #organicnuts get an essential barrier to lock in the flavour of the nuts and to preserve their crunchiness.
Chocolate: With our specialised coating, we add an essential barrier to prevent #fatbloom and to keep the nuts crunchy when processed in chocolate.
Cereals: Add a delicious sweet crunch to your organic #granola with these organic caramelised nut pieces.

If you’re eager for some organic sweet coated nut ingredients, just contact us.

In November we go green instead of black

Why? We’re always green. Not only as it is our main and identifying colour, but every day we commit ourselves to fulfil our corporate social responsibility to protect people, planet and profits. As part of our philosophy to live and work together for the common good, we’ve decided to support this year’s #GreenFriday initiative by Trees for All. No Black Friday deals in November, but planting trees instead. Will you join us? Go to greenfriday.nl and sign up 🌳

#thinkinginsolutions #highquality #uniqueproducts #serviceonly #100%natural

Virgin Nuts… check ✓

At Virgin Nuts we offer you freshly produced #loveatfirstbite #100%natural #highquality #uniqueproducts. As a B2B company, every day you strive to fulfil the highest customer demands. By having your products produced @ Virgin Nuts, we support you by #thinkinginsolutions and guarantee the highest quality and food safety standards.

If you're ever in doubt who to turn to for #absolutelydelicious freshly produced caramelised or dry roasted seasoned nuts, seeds and cereals, obviously THE manufacturer to turn to is Virgin Nuts... check ✓

Crunchy veggies say POP

We have something new that will be a big hit especially in the cereals, chocolate and salad toppings industry. It’s airy, crispy and super sustainable with a base made out of the residual stream from the legume industry. With pea starch as main ingredient and coloured with vegetables (red beet, tomato, carrot and green beans/spinach) for bright and happy colours, these pops contribute to positive nutritional values with about 13% proteins and about 8% fibers. And, even more good news, 1 pop corresponds to 6 parts of fresh vegetables.

So, no more valid excuses for I don’t like vegetables 😉. Everyone loves vegetables if it’s enriched with our #absolutelydelicious caramelised coating. Beet or cane sugar, we’ll turn veggie pops into a #loveatfirstbite sweet and crunchy ingredient for the food industry.

Contact us for more information. Enjoy your veggies!

Home or Away

Whether your customers pack their suitcase or you fill their shopping cart, there’s always room for #absolutelydelicious caramelised or dry roasted seasoned snack nuts and #loveatfirstbite honey coated breakfast cereals.

Home or away, just make sure that your customers seize the moments of happiness. With nuts, seeds and cereals as a healthy base, we add #100%natural ingredients to turn them into a tasty and indulgent treat. A handful of #highquality caramelised and flavoured nuts - for instance our Maple chili nuts - will give your customers an energy boost. And at their favourite snacking time, a handful of Vanilla hazelnuts will definitely makes them feel relaxed.
And don’t forget our dry roasted seasoned nuts (think Dry roasted Italian almonds, rosemary almonds, chili cashews, etc.) to contribute to tasty snacking moments.

This summer, home or away, don’t compromise on flavour and indulgence and make sure your customers’ plant-based power snacking moments will be even more enjoyable.

Walk for Trees - 10-18 July 2021

While producing our #absolutelydelicious sweet coated and dry roasted seasoned nuts, seeds and cereals, unavoidably CO2 is emitted. To fulfil our mission to contribute to a green and healthier earth, we reduce our CO2-emissions to the max. By supporting Trees for All sustainable forestry projects in NL and abroad, we aim to offset for the rest.

As a CO2-sponsor we’re proud to promote the Walk for Trees, the longest (forest) walk in the Netherlands. For every 5 kilometers you walk, #treesforall plants 1 tree. The more kilometers you make, the more trees will be planted.

Our walking shoes are ready to walk for the first trees today. Don’t hesitate to participate, even if you’re not in the Netherlands. Plant a tree or offset your carbon emissions to make a positive climate contribution. Together we can pass on a green and healthy planet.

Meet our caramelised cacao dusted nuts

We herewith introduce our newest development: almonds and cashews delicately dusted with famous Belgian #cacaopowder (no, we don’t do chocolate, but we dó dust our caramelised nuts with cacao powder 😉).

Besides looking good, these decadent caramelised cacao nuts taste great as an indulgent snack or on top of your morning yogurt and, with 3 plant based ingredients, this new product fits a #plantbased, #vegan and plant-rich diet. That makes your snacking moments even more enjoyable. Contact us for more information.

#thinkinginsolutions #highquality #uniqueproducts #serviceonly #100%natural

Skal (organic) certified for food industry

Yes, we are back in the organic world! After a long pause and thanks to an increasing demand for organic products, we’re pleased and proud to announce that we have been awarded our organic certification from Skal Biocontrole.

During this year more and more of our conventional products will also be available as organic. At this moment, this #biocertificate is especially interesting for the food industry (#organicchocolate, #organicicecream, #organiccereals, etc.).

Happy summer salad with roasted melon seeds

To decorate and add a nutty flavour to your summer salads, we have developed a new salad topping with #absolutelydelicious dry roasted watermelon seeds, as a perfect substitute for pine nuts. With or without a pinch of salt, it turns your salads into a culinary tour de force.

Melon seeds are a vegetable and natural source of protein, a source of B vitamins, iron and magnesium and #melonseeds contain healthy fatty acids, which have a positive effect on your blood vessels.

Contact us for more information. Happy summer and… Enjoy!

Gingerbread day

Virgin Nuts is famous for caramelised nuts, seeds and cereals with one of our 5 base flavours: honey, maple, cinnamon, vanilla and… gingerbread. Gingerbread is a comforting mix of aromatic spices that makes our thoughts wander off to autumn and winter, picturing fragrant home baked cookies. What a surprise to learn that in the USA this fragrant food is celebrated on the 5th of June.

For us, it’s the perfect moment to bring your attention to one of our favourite base flavours. Gingerbread is #absolutelydelicious with brown almonds and they also combine very well with pecan nuts and granola too, but our top favourite is caramelised pretzel granulate with #gingerbread. These aromatic gingerbread pretzel pieces are a perfect ingredient for #chocolate and #breakfastcereals. With main spices like ginger, cinnamon and cloves, gingerbread uplifts every type of food or moment to a #loveatfirstbite and comforting one.

Happy Gingerbread day and… Enjoy!

Pecans, crunchy & icy

Ice cream can be topped or filled with many ingredients, but of course we prefer ice cream with caramelised nuts, like these #absolutelydelicious caramelised pecans.

Of course, not only pecan nuts are suitable for #icecream. Thanks to our artisanal caramelisation process all types of (diced) nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc.) get an essential barrier to lock in the flavour of the nuts and to preserve their crunchiness. Depending on the production method of ice cream, an optionally additional layer of coconut oil prevents the sugar from draining.

To ensure that even more people can enjoy your delicious ice cream, on request we can produce your ice cream ingredients peanut free as well.

Bee engaged

Virgin Nuts is well-known for #absolutelydelicious #honey coated nuts, seeds and cereals. As we all know, honey is a sweet, syrup-like food substance that bees produce from the nectar of flowering plants. For several years now, bees and other pollinators are increasingly under threat from human activities.

Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of our ecosystems. To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the United Nations designated 20 May as #WorldBeeDay.

#worldfairtradeday Doing well by doing good

In November 2020 we’ve introduced our #virginfairnuts line in cooperation with nuts2. Besides sustainable production, products and packaging, Virgin Nuts values sustainable and equitable trade.

nuts2 is known for its Fair Trade cashews which are both grown and processed in Africa, generating employment and income for nearly 5,000 local workers. Concentrating the full process locally, also results in a smaller carbon footprint, thus CO2-reduction.

We’re pleased to announce that now we can produce your caramelised or dry roasted and seasoned #fairtrade cashews even more #sustainable with herbs and spices from Griffith Foods.

Royal decoration

It’s with pride and great pleasure to announce that our father has been royal decorated and as of today is a Member in the 'Orde van Oranje-Nassau'. His contribution to the community, in the fields of sports and culture, has been greatly appreciated and has put him on this year's Honours list (#lintjesregen).

Although he has been retired for many years now, he’s still actively involved in various commissions and in the technical department at Virgin Nuts. We’re so grateful for his technical and continuously innovative contribution.

Behind every successful man is a great woman and the greatest of course, is our Mum, our family’s empress. It’s thanks to both our parents, that every day we’re motivated to #thinkinginsolutions #highquality #uniqueproducts #serviceonly #100%natural

Diederick & José van Merkestijn

Don't compromise on flavour and indulgence

Recently we read an interesting article in Snacks Magazine Spring edition, mentioning that "brands are increasingly looking for ingredients that can deliver nutritionally, but don’t compromise on flavour and indulgence". Besides health being an important focus, "consumers are looking to food to support their mental wellbeing and make them feel good, so 'tasty treats' are also in demand. Indulgent snacking is still important, as is flavour and the overall snacking experience."

These phrases fully match our product assortment. With nuts as a healthy base, we add #100%natural ingredients to turn them into a tasty and indulgent treat. While working at home, a handful of #highquality caramelised and flavoured nuts - for instance our Honey rosemary nuts - will give you an energy boost. And at your favourite snacking time, a handful of Honey BBQ almonds will definitely make you feel relaxed.

BRCGS Food Safety AA-level certified

Yesss! For the 13th year in a row, we’ve passed our annual BRCGS Food Safety audit with glance and again the highest AA-level is achieved.

Our BRCGS certificate, a leading recognition, shows that the Virgin Nuts production facilities (including our peanut free facility) meet all food safety (incl. food defense and food fraud prevention) requirements set by the British Retail Consortium (BRCGS).

The BRCGS certificate is recognized by the GFSI, the worldwide partnership of retailers.

Happy Easter

The second Easter without long time family traditions. Thanks to numerous digital and creative solutions, we can still spend valuable time with friends and family.

So, despite restrictions and lockdowns, let’s meet, eat and play games together with your loved ones these Easter day(s). Synchronize your brunch tables and contact the ones you want to spend Easter with. Eat, chat and enjoy!

We wish you all Happy Easter.

Caramelised almonds for chocolate

Chocolate is an #absolutelydelicious product. Imagine that extra dimension if chocolate is enriched by caramelised nuts, like these #loveatfirstbite caramelised almonds in the picture, but also seeds or puffed grains… Virgin Nuts is specialised in caramelising chocolate ingredients in many #100%natural flavours.
Besides that the nuts and (puffed) cereals remain crunchy, it prevents fat bloom and that makes every #chocolateproducer and #chocolatelover very happy.

Spring holidays 2021

During the upcoming holidays, our factories will be closed on:

• 2 April: Good Friday
• 5 April: Easter Monday
• 27 April: King's Day
• 13 May: Ascension Day (14 May: Factories closed)
• 24 May: Whit Monday

Contact us for more information about our production scheduling during the upcoming spring holidays. We wish you happy days!

Nationale Week zonder Vlees (No Meat Week)

Every year in March, we have this theme week in The Netherlands: Nationale Week zonder Vlees (No Meat Week) to encourage us all to not consuming meat for one week.

The aim of the campaign is to make the Netherlands aware of the positive environmental impact of eating less meat, and to show how easy this can actually be. Lots of companies and local celebrities support this campaign and even restaurants and suppliers of meal kits offer meatless menus.

To make our dinners just as tasteful, we add (pea)nuts to our dishes instead. For instance a good plate of nasi with our own spicy honey peanuts. The chili in this product gives your meal a kick, just like seasoned meat would do.

Want to adopt a flexitarian eating pattern, without compromising good tasting food? Combine your meals with caramelised or dry roasted and seasoned nuts or peanuts. Together we can make a difference.

International Women's Day

What a surprise! Our Polish colleagues brightened up this grey Monday with flowers for the women and cake for everyone to celebrate International Women’s Day, which was a national holiday in Poland for many years.

This touching gesture emphasizes the good, close and respectful cooperation of all colleagues, no matter gender, race or nationality. At Virgin Nuts we act according to the United Nations Global Compact Human Rights Principles.

We’re proud to work with women and men of multiple nationalities together in good harmony. Key principle: Always treat people the way you want to be treated: with respect.

Szczęśliwego Dzień Kobiet (Happy Women’s Day)!

4-3-21

It’s… TODAY! The descending low numbers of this special date inspired us to emphasize our clean label products and the minimum of ingredients that are used to create #absolutelydelicious #highquality #100%natural and #uniqueproducts we produce. Either caramelised or dry roasted and seasoned. We make it happen.

4 - Dry roasted rosemary chili almonds; only 4 ingredients make this #loveatfirstbite product: almonds, rosemary, chili and sea salt.
3 - Honey cashews; beautiful moon shaped cashews with sugar and honey; that’s all what’s needed to make an indulgent caramelised cashew with honey.
2 - Caramelised pecans; pecans and sugar (either beet sugar sor raw cane sugar); a perfect combination for allowing nuts to be processed in chocolate or ice cream, while preserving their original taste and crunchiness.
1 - We can also supply plain or roasted #almonds, #cashews, #hazelnuts, #peanuts, #pecans or other nuts. Pure and simple.

4 March 2021, we call it #cleanlabelday. Happy 4-3-21!

Granola for Food Bank

Sometimes you will only know the true value of food when it becomes unaffordable ... Thanks to Voedselbanken Nederland (Food Bank), food remains accessible, even when the going gets tough.

And unfortunately, the going also got tough for one of our customers. They didn’t survive the COVID-19 related regulations in their country and had to return freshly produced #absolutelydelicious granola. We’ve immediately decided to donate this granola to the Voedselbank and support their main goals: providing direct food aid to the ones in need and preventing the waste of good food.

Our 5 core values #thinkinginsolutions #highquality #uniqueproducts #serviceonly #100%natural all the way.

Clean label caramelised peanuts; safe snacking

Peanuts, you love them or you hate them (maybe even cannot eat them ;-(). Just like tree nuts, peanuts are full of unsaturated fats, iron, B vitamins and vitamin E, hence super healthy. At Virgin Nuts, we turn these ground nuts into an indulgent and clean label snack. No e-numbers and no artificial flavouring nor colouring. Our famous caramelised peanuts (or sugar peanuts, if you prefer) only consist of peanuts and sugar and are natural golden brown. On top of this: the caramelised layer provides a crunch, while the specific peanut flavour is retained. 100% natural caramelised peanuts… we love them!

p.s. if you have a zero-tolerance policy for peanuts, don’t let this post scare you off. We have a peanut free production facility, especially for the production of ingredients for many peanut free applications.

It’s all thanks to hazelnuts

5 February is #WorldNutellaDay, one of the most indulgent days of the year. Nutella® is a perfect combination of hazelnuts and cocoa. The story goes that it was a shortage of cocoa in the Piedmont region of Italy back in the 1800s, causing these two nature ingredients to combine. To stretch the supply, chocolate was mixed with ground hazelnuts. Much later Nutella® became the creamy version of the mixture and it’s one of those products that everyone knows around the world.

The reason that we honour this famous product, is obviously our love for hazelnuts – especially caramelised - and the #loveatfirstbite combination that nuts make - especially if caramelised 😉 - with chocolate. Whether whole, diced or slivered, we can produce Caramelised hazelnuts as the perfect ingredient for your chocolate.

Crunchy honey peanuts for peanut butter

January 24th is #NationalPeanutButterDay. On this day, the over 100 year old spread in its current form, gets the recognition it deserves. Creamy or chunky, with chocolate or with jelly, all delicious, but our top favourite is peanut butter with crunchy Honey peanuts #loveatfirstbite.

We’ve celebrated the anniversary with lots and lots of this comforting and filling spread. Of course only in our main building, because obviously we have a zero tolerance for peanuts and derivatives in our #peanutfree facility.

Botanical flavours @ Virgin Nuts

It’s winter in Europe. Even though it can be cold outside, it’s the season where we bring extra lights and warmth into our homes. And lots of comfortable smelling green and flowers. It’s the season in which we’ve said goodbye to the old and welcomed the new year. A new year in which the pandemic hopefully will be controlled, giving us free access to an enjoyable summer. With our Honey rose almonds we give you a sneak preview of a happy season full of light and fresh botanical flavours.