Value Adding Culinary Chestnut Seconds Through the Development of a Marketable Fine Flour

Project Overview

ONC22-111
Project Type: Partnership
Funds awarded in 2022: $39,662.00
Projected End Date: 09/30/2023
Grant Recipient: Rural Action
Region: North Central
State: Ohio
Project Coordinator:
Tom Redfern
Email
Rural Action

Information Products

Commodities

  • Nuts: chestnuts

Practices

  • Crop Production: agroforestry, food processing facilities/community kitchens, forest farming
  • Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research
  • Farm Business Management: market study, value added
  • Sustainable Communities: infrastructure analysis

    Proposal abstract:

    Rural Action will partner with three farmers from the Route 9 Chestnut Cooperative and the Shagbark Seed & Mill to develop value-added fine chestnut flour that can be marketed to our region’s bakeries, restaurants and retail markets. 

    The demand for culinary chestnuts far exceeds the supply from our region. However, chestnut farmers from the Route 9 Chestnut Cooperative report that up to 20% of their harvest is Grade B (up to 20,000 lbs) and therefore unsellable as fresh chestnuts. These Grade B chestnuts promise a good return if they could be processed into a fine culinary flour, but the system for drying and milling is not yet developed in our region. Currently, the Cooperative uses low-tech equipment to create a coarse flour and does not have the capital to scale up and optimize the process to produce a fine chestnut flour. This project will research and document best milling practices, convene producers at two field days for peer learning, and gather qualitative data from buyers who are provided chestnut flour samples to evaluate. We seek to meet the need of diversifying producers’ chestnut portfolios in order to increase the production of this sustainable, climate-resilient crop.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    • Research and develop the processing requirements to make fine chestnut flour out of grade B chestnuts
    • Identify the optimal milling equipment needed 
    • Record best practices for processing at a margin that’s economically viable for the farmer and miller 
    • Improve chestnut flour product through gathering qualitative data from a select customer base that is given samples to evaluate
    • Write elements of a business plan for processing grade B chestnuts that could be incorporated into any chestnut grower business plans
    • Host two field days at Route 9 to gather producers and customers to learn about value-added products and chestnut potential 
    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.