Airlines don’t have as many passengers, and aren’t offering as much service to the passengers they do have. So what happened to all the first class nuts? It turns out to be a double whammy thanks to tariffs up to 75% on sales to China.
“I have 50,000 pounds of nuts American Airlines and United didn’t want!” said Kim Peacock of GNS Foods and GreatNuts.com, the airline’s roaster for 30 years.
“We’re feeling sad. We’re sitting on a lot of nuts.”
Business is off 90%, Peacock said. The GNS GreatNuts factory store has marked deluxe mixed nuts down to less than $5 a pound.
…“We’ve been asking American Airlines to help us get rid of these,” she said, waving toward a warehouse with rows of boxes stamped “American” or “United.”
Initially American told them to ‘wait three weeks’ after the decision to remove nuts from flights, then came back and let them know that “the nuts were gone for good.”
The store offered to individually bag the nuts, so flight attendants wouldn’t be handling them, but American didn’t want to serve nuts in first class anymore. They offered the nuts as a package the airline could send to AAdvantage elite members, but American didn’t want to spend that money either (AAdvantage has eliminated baggage tags, too).
You can now buy American Airlines first class nut mix directly, and they even offer the Aloha mix from Hawaii flights with the candied pineapple pieces…
I would love these nuts in my mouth
@ Gary — Unless I am missing something, the lowest price per pound is $6.52. Costco’s normal price for mixed nuts in a 2.5 lb plastic container is $7.30 (-2% back, so $7.25) per pound, so I’m not sure this is too exciting.
Was ready to order some but their shipping price is outrageous.
@Gene – I didn’t this because of its pricing as such but because you can get a good deal on *American Airlines* nuts
Website shows cheapest at $10/pound (not $5) with free shipping- not a bargain for anyone’s nuts.
Go to Costco or Trader Joe’s and let them choke on their overpriced airline nuts. If the airlines were paying $10/pound there must be some graft involved.
@ Gary — I suspect AA nuts taste exactly like Costco nuts.
I am more concerned that “the nuts were gone for good.”
The whole airline industry is nuts.
For those with a Trader Joe’s nearby, their honey roasted peanuts are great.
@ Alex_77W — Maybe after Jan 20, 2021…
Am I the only one who thought it was incredibly silly of AA to not take GNS up on their offer of sending nuts to AAdvantage elites? Sure, it’s not cheap by any means, but a fantastic way to engage frequent fliers when everyone is at home and to remind them to fly American when they are back in the air
I heard about this from a friend in airline catering, thanks for posting the link as their corporate site is much different from their retail site. I ended up buying 6 bags, will make for great munchies when I fly and trail mix. Happy to support a local business that’s been affected by this downturn.
The price is well above $5 a pound. Interesting, though.
They should rebrand the from AA to CD’S
Gee… I think this is a great story; both sad for the times at AA; but a decent deal for mostly cashews and pecans (which might be cheap at Costco; but I never shop there). I ordered 6 – 1.25 lb packages; and I think they’ll make good tiny holiday gifts. I might even order hundreds if I get a better deal; and send them to my stock market service subscribers, as we’ve had an excellent year (catching the down and then up Covid-related moves). Especially if they come with an AA logo on the package (doubtful) I’ll order more after getting the first batch. Thanks Gary for off-beat articles like this on-occasion. Stay safe!
All the first class nuts are in economy with more room to spread out to avoid the virus.
The domestic airlines nickel and diming even for people in First or Business class…..
That is why the wife and I ALWAYS fly on foreign flag carrier airlines when going overseas. The good foreign carriers wine and dine you in First and Business class. Why put up with mediocre service and amenities?
While American Airlines flirts with possible insolvency, I will be on the foreign flag carrier living large. All that lost money to American Airlines over saving a few dollars over nuts or other inexpensive items.
I almost always fly a foreign carrier when going overseas. AA will have to do a hell of a better job to get my business back. They are not in the same league with most international carriers. And the price of these nuts is outrageous.
CVS Nuts on sale are cheaper and I can mix a better ratio less almonds more cashews!
Patons nuts in Australia seems to have suffered the same fate with the cutback in airport and airline traffic. I picked myself up a steeply discounted bulk pack of Macadamia Royals from their website (though it looks like they only ship within Australia) – they used to hand them out pretty reguarly when flying on Qantas and always went down a treat.