Super Goobers

What’s the secret of these fabulous plump roasted peanuts, and why do they smell so incredibly good when you open the package? Simple. They’re fresh.

“Our peanuts are roasted and shipped within a week,” says Susan Cloutier of Jimbo’s Jumbos Inc. “People don’t realize peanuts are perishable and will go stale within six weeks.”

After the peanuts (Virginia-type, the best variety for eating) are harvested, they are transported to Jimbo’s processing plant in Edenton, N.C.--a small coastal town (population 6,000) about 120 miles northeast of Raleigh--where they’re stored raw until there’s an order for them. Then three full-time peanut sorters choose only the jumbo-sized ones for roasting. (The rejects become peanut oil and other products.) Using a closely monitored process that controls the temperature and moisture level, these premium goobers are roasted and immediately packed for shipping.

The gift shop and mail-order division of Jimbo’s Jumbos, called Nuts Divine, is located on the plant premises. A 10-pound bushel basket of salted or unsalted jumbos in the shell sells for $25.75. A 13-ounce burlap bag costs $4.95. Since there’s a $2.95 shipping and handling charge for every order, the best buy is the 25-pound bag, $41. Besides, who can eat just one peanut?

Mail never smelled so good.

Nuts Divine

P.O. Box 589, Edenton, N.C.

(800) 334-0492

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