Italian company’s innovative range of natural nut butters answers the call for nutrient-rich, preservative-free and environmentally sustainable products.

 

Family-led Italian firm Besana is bringing nut butter, a healthy alternative to conventional spreads, to the Swedish market. Made entirely from nuts or seeds, and with no artificial ingredients, the new range will be sold under the Garant brand and available in four varieties: cashew butter, almond butter, seeds mix butter, and a nut mix butter.

 

“Nut butter is a real ‘extract’ obtained exclusively from tree nuts,” explained Vittoria Calcagni, the group’s PR manager and fourth generation member of the family-owned business. “It’s a product that responds perfectly to the latest consumer trends, linked to well-being without sacrificing taste.”

Heeding the call for clean label products

 

Besana has spent the past year developing the nut butter range in response to growing consumer demand for healthy alternatives to more traditional spreads. It even overcame the challenges presented by Covid-19 to carry out meticulous internal and external panel tests, resulting in a product that meets the needs of the modern-day consumer. “With a high protein content, it is naturally rich in precious nutritional elements and totally free of preservatives, colourings and artificial flavours,” Calcagni added

 

The product is perfect for many consumption occasions: for breakfast, as a healthy midday snack, but also as nice ingredient and topping when preparing many dishes. The simplicity of their composition make these products suitable for vegans and those on lactose-free diets, as well as a nice substitute for dairy butter and margarine, offering a rich, balanced supply of nutrients like unsaturated fats and mineral salts.

 

The new line is also environmentally sustainable as well as innovative. Thanks to its glass jars, washable (and removable) labels and cardboard made from FSC-approved paper sources, and lids certified BPA-Ni and PVC-free, the packaging used is 100 per cent recyclable.

More new recipes to follow

 

As a leading supplier of nuts and dried fruits and a major commercial force in the international market, Besana Group is already active in Scandinavia. It has worked with Axfood to supply the retailer’s premium branded range Garant over the past four years.

 

The addition of nut butter line is expected to help the range grow further, “We are already working on introducing new recipes to expand the range as early as next spring,” revealed Ms Calcagni.

With roots stretching back to 1921, and headquartered  in San Gennaro Vesuviano (near Naples), Besana today operates in five continents, importing raw materials from 30 countries and processing 25,000 tons of nuts, dried fruit and seeds. The Group is one of the founding partners of AlmaverdeBio,  the first organic brand in Italy. In 2020 Besana joined the Spanish Group Importaco, to  enable greater international reach and specialisation in the market for nuts and dried fruit.