Manzanita works with private landowners across California’s North Coast and pays them for harvest rights for every pound of dry usable Acorn and Bay Nut  we harvest. Our crews work from September to early November and work hard to sustainably retrieve nuts that would have otherwise been left to rot unharvested.

We are also working with landowners to help them replace thirsty non-native crops like Almond by replanting locally native Oak trees and farming acorns as a crop. While new trees take time to produce, By 2030, we expect to have more than half of our inventory come from farms, not wild harvests.

Yes. Acorns fall continuously from late August through December across California and millions of pounds are left to rot uneaten by humans or animals every year. On average we harvest less than half the total acorn harvest of any given tree, leaving the rest in place for wildlife.  We are also using cutting edge bioacoustics to carefully monitor the impact on wildlife before, during, and after the harvest to make sure we do not negatively impact wild species.

Beyond just not doing harm, we are actively benefiting wildlife. Our harvest is done on privately owned oak forests, and payments for harvest rights to landowners actively support keeping these forests healthy and intact. A landowner that can’t generate revenue from their lands is likely to sell them, and a forest that is cut to make way for orchards or suburban sprawl provides no food for wildlife. 

Wild acorn is grown with no irrigation at all, compared to almond which can consume up to a gallon of water per nut and an average of 377 gallons a pound. The almond industry in California consumes 17% of all water in the state. We save 754,000 gallons of water compared to almond for every ton of food we produce from native tree nuts growing wild in intact forests.

In our first year we expect to save around 40 million gallons of water, as compared to Almond and other conventional nut crops. By 2030, we hope to be saving billions of gallons a year.

Acorns are a complete protein and contain a full set of amino acids used by the body to build muscle.

Acorn’s nutritional profile varies from species to species, but on average 1 ounce of raw acorn flour contains

• 110 calories

• Up to 2 grams of protein

• Up to 9 grams of fat

• Up to 4 grams of fiber

• 0 grams of cholesterol

• 11.5 grams of carbohydrates

• 11.62 milligrams of calcium

• 17.58 milligrams of magnesium

• 22.40 milligrams of phosphorus

• 152.81 milligrams of potassium‌

• Fiber: 4 grams

• Vitamin A: 44% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)

• Vitamin E: 20% of the RDI

• Iron: 19% of the RDI

• Manganese: 19% of the RDI

• Potassium: 12% of the RDI

• Vitamin B6: 10% of the RDI

• Folate: 8% of the RDI

Acorns oils are considerably higher in unsaturated fat compared to saturated fat and this helps improve cholesterol levels and even protect against heart diseases. The low glycemic index makes acorn flour ideal for people with diabetic or pre-diabetic symptoms or anyone trying to lose weight since it does not provoke the same insulin response as wheat flour.

Manzanita is incorporated in the State of California as a “General Cooperative” and is owned mostly by its employees. The majority of the shares of the company are held in a common pool owned equally by all worker-owners. The remainder is owned by our diverse founding team 6 and by our community investors and stakeholders. Over time, we will buy back stock from investors and add it to the common pool, but for now selling stock is critical to raise the funds we need to launch.

This structure ensures we will remain focused on our mission to make farms habitat and bring food production into balance with ecological systems over the long term and never have to sacrifice that mission for the sake of short term profits.

We operate as a democratically run organization and any person in a leadership role is subject to an annual “confidence vote” by the people they lead. Leaders who lose the confidence of their teams are replaced. Many decisions are made by voting within teams and leaders are seen primarily as facilitators whose core responsibility is to support their teams and enable everyone to do their best work.

No. At present we are not harvesting on tribal lands. If we were to harvest on tribal lands in the future, it would only be with the explicit consent of the tribe and we would pay them for any acorns we harvest.

We also do not harvest on publicly owned lands in California since many tribes conduct harvests in federal and state-owned forests.  That may change in the future, but if and when it does we will coordinate with tribes to make sure we do not impact their harvest operations.

Our code of conduct for third parties we buy from explicitly prohibits disrupting or competing with tribal harvest operations.

While we do not have any purchase agreements in place with tribal governments, we have had some initial discussions and hope that, over the long term, purchasing acorn and bay nut that is sustainably harvested by people in those communities will be an important and valuable way to drive revenue to tribal governments and indigenous people more broadly.

Yes. Our CEO is Rich Bolton, a registered member of the Chukchansi tribe. Our first outside shareholder was the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center (CIMCC). CIMCC’s executive Director, Nicole Lim, also serves on our Advisory board and provides ongoing support and advice. We are currently in discussions with many more Native-led organizations about collaborations as we prepare for launch.

Tribal governments also receive significant discounts for bulk purchases in order to make sure that traditional foods are more accessible and affordable than they have been in the past. 

We are also actively seeking to build relationships with tribal jobs programs across the North Coast.

If you are interested in collaborating, please reach out.

So far, startup funds have come from investments by our founding team, grants, and loans. We are currently actively seeking new investors.

For information on investing with Manzanita, please reach out to invest@manzanitacooperative.com