A 133-Year Legacy
When the Carriere family bought their first walnut orchard in 1963, there was no telling what the future would look like. The crop was a new commodity, and the market was still unpredictable. Fast forward to today, the Carrieres have found great success in growing and processing California walnuts that market and sell across the world.
The start of their legacy began over 130 years ago with Albini Carriere, who migrated to Northern California from Canada. He began farming rice and row crops in the Sacramento Valley until one of his sons, Herb, started a new venture: walnuts. Today, that venture has grown exponentially by scale and volume. The Carrieres farm hundreds of acres of walnuts and have vertically integrated by building a revolutionary walnut processing facility.
“Walnuts are a long-term investment,” said Bill Carriere, President and CEO of Carriere Family Farms. “Growing walnuts is just the method of what we’re doing to help the community, help our family, help the economy and the world eat healthy.”
Bill is the third generation to work for Carriere Family Farms and says the fourth and fifth generations are now coming on board to join the legacy. While family serves as a key part of their business, the company has always been run on the same three-pronged approach focusing on growers, customers and employees.
Quality Products
Quality stays top of mind for the Carrieres, and that begins at the farm level. They have high expectations when it comes to growing walnuts, which includes thoughtfully stewarding the land. This is backed by their GLOBAL G.A.P. certification, which guarantees that their farming operation meets and exceeds standards.
One of the environmentally conscious practices to complement this certification includes composting. The Carrieres add a biochar byproduct of the walnut shell back into their soil, which adds nitrogen and ultimately reduces the additives needed.
“We want the ranch to be here for generations to come, so we need to take care of the soil, air and water and have it available for future generations,” Bill said.
With their customers, the Carrieres make sure the product they provide goes above and beyond in every way. That’s partly why they vertically integrated into the processing side, so they could carefully monitor the quality of the product from start to finish.
Partnering with Farm Credit
The Carrieres understand the importance of people which makes their business succeed. For 115 employees, they strive to foster a work environment that promotes longevity, often promote from within and provide additional perks like free car charging stations at the workplace to reduce the cost of commuting.
“Retaining employees is one of our goals,” Bill said. “We want a long-term employee to be happy and healthy here.”
Golden State Farm Credit admires the progressive mindset of Carriere Family Farms, and they have partnered with them for many generations. Examples include financing a few of their cutting-edge projects, including solar panels that offset a substantial amount of their power usage and their new, state-of-the-art processing facility.
Unveiled in September 2022, the expansion has resulted in an overall 200% increase in their walnut processing facilities.
As Carriere Family Farms has become an industry leader in the walnut space, they’ve remained true to their family’s morals and values that played such an important role from the start. That’s why Golden State Farm Credit is proud to partner with them every step of the way.
“Golden State Farm Credit shares the same vision as we do of sustainability and farming as a long-term valuable asset to the community in Northern California, especially,” Bill said. “They are investing in our future and in the future of agriculture.
