FAQ – The Philosopher's Stoneground Online Store

General Questions (All Products)

Why stone ground?

Most nut butters are made from nuts that are ground using an augur, high-powered food processor, or industrial continuous throughput machines. These processes heat the nuts, which destroys enzymes and denatures proteins and fats. Metal-on-metal cutting machines with high throughput more rapidly oxidize nuts and thus open the possibility of going rancid more quickly. Moreover, short processing times don’t allow the almond oils to fully release or for a nuanced texture to emerge.

Stone grinding is a form of food processing that we have used for over 30,000 years as a species. We use this ancient, time-tested technology to crush the almonds at a low temperature and slow speed into almond butter, which prevents them from heating up. Because of this process, the enzymes, proteins, and fats of the nuts remain intact, unlike in most nut butters. Making a batch takes 12-24 hours in our stone grinder, but the time can be tasted in the product’s deep, rich quality.

Do I have to refrigerate it?

We do not recommend refrigeration for our products because it can introduce moisture, thus decreasing shelf life. It also decreases the flavor and changes the texture. However, we don't consider any of this "harming" the product, just changing it. You are free to do as you please with it!

What is regenerative?

Regeneration is a movement that is promoting the flourishing of all life on Earth. In agriculture, regenerative means farming with a focus on the health of the soil biology to increase the health of the plants, animals, and humans that interact with that soil, as well as modeling ecosystems in the way that we design farms, for example agroforestry.

Our coconut and cacao are grown in multi-layered agroforestry systems with many other plants, looking more like their native environment of jungle than a plantation.

We made a public 9-point Climate Commitment with The Climate Collaborative to implement meaningful actions to reverse climate change. According to Project Drawdown, 8 of the top 20 solutions to reversing climate change are related to regenerative agriculture.

We have your health, the health of workers throughout the supply web, and the health of the planet in mind. We exist to create the best nut butters possible, on all levels, for all beings! That's why our motto is: Intelligent Nourishment for Life.

Other companies utilize monocultures that clear native ecosystems. Non-organic companies additionally add chemicals that are toxic to humans and the rest of life.

How do we know fair trade standards are in effect?

We use certified Fair Trade ingredients wherever they are available. Right now, that is in our coconut shreds, cacao, coconut oil, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract. This means working with smallholder farmers to legally ensure that they receive a premium on top of market price, plus an additional premium they can use for social and environmental projects, i.e. building wells or supporting schools, which is decided upon by a farmer committee. This is a huge deal for these commodity crop farmers, who tend to be among the poorest in the world because of exploitation by global markets.

A message from our supplier, "As for verifying fair trade standards, our coconut supply chain manager, who also happens to be our VP of sustainability, visits our coconut suppliers for in person audits where he evaluates the working conditions and speaks with farmers and factory employees. He’s very passionate about fair trade is also the one responsible for initiating a “code of conduct” with each of our suppliers that addresses human rights and fair labor practices, among other points. We have been working with the majority of our coconut suppliers for many years, so have built established relationships. Keeping in close contact and visiting regularly is how we verify standards."

Sprouted Almond Butter Questions

What is the shelf life?

Good for 1.5 years from production date, stamped on jar. Refrigeration not recommended (decreases flavor, thickens texture, and decreases shelf life because of moisture). Keeping the lid on and not double-dipping or introducing foreign matter into the jar will maximize shelf life. All expiration dates are best guesses; your nose and tongue are the best judge of product freshness!

Why sprouted?

Sprouting makes almonds sweeter, more digestible, and more nutritious. We soak truly raw unpasteurized Spanish almonds in Santa Cruz Mountain spring water for 12 hours and low-temperature dehydrate them for 24 hours before we stone grind. This makes nutrients more bioavailable and decreases anti-nutrients such as phytic acid.

A study found that sprouted almonds had higher phenol content as compared to dried almonds. Thus, their findings indicate that sprouting increases the total phenol content and subsequently increases the antioxidant capacity of this food. This increase in total phenol content and the subsequent increase in the antioxidant capacity directly indicate the significance of consuming sprouted almonds.

Other companies do not normally sprout, meaning less sweet, less nutritious, less bioavailable, more anti-nutrients, less digestible

Why does it cost more than the almond butter I get at Costco?

It is more expensive to make the highest quality artisanal organic food! We raised the minimum wage in our factory to $15/hour to do right by our employees.

We have also begun paying a regenerative premium on our cacao that includes and goes beyond Organic and Fair Trade premiums. We did this to incentivize our farmers to earn more money by building soil, increasing habitat, and enhancing biodiversity. We apologize for the higher prices, but you now know that your investment in our products is a true investment in your health, the health of the workers, and the health of the planet.

What is that white stuff on top of the jar of Creamy or Crunchy Chocolate? Is it just ingredients separating? Mold?

What you are seeing is a standard cacao fat bloom. This happens in many chocolate products. It looks a little different than pure cacao fat because the cacao fat mixed with almond oil and then solidified.

Simply melt and stir and the fat will reintegrate. Definitely nothing to be concerned about from a food safety standpoint. Our products are extremely low moisture, which makes mold growth very difficult, if not impossible.

Why were shells in my jar?

We do issue a warning about this on the label, which we started thanks to customer feedback, but unfortunately we cannot control this issue. It's a farm-side issue that we do our best to clean up after during our processing, such as listening for shells in the grinder and looking for them as we dehydrate and grind the almonds, but it is unavoidable that some shells pass through.

This is a normal possibility for the crunchy, although it's impossible to determine what percentage of product has shells in it. One very regular devoted customer of this product told us "in about one out of every 4 or 5 jars I encounter some."

The Creamy almond butters are strained and almost never have shells, but there is no way for the Crunchy to be strained due to its thickness. We are currently looking into other ways to solve this problem.

What type of salt do you use?

We use Real Salt, which is ancient seabed salt free of chemical pollutants found in salt from modern seas, mined in Utah.

Coconut Butter Questions

My coconut butter or cocotella separated, what should I do?

Separation can occur in temperatures past 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Simply heat the product either by leaving it in a warm windowsill or boiling it on the stovetop in a pot of water for a few minutes. Once melted you can stir to restore the after heat separation.

What is the shelf life?

Good for 1 year from production date, stamped on jar. Refrigeration not recommended (decreases flavor, thickens texture, and decreases shelf life because of moisture). Keeping the lid on and not double-dipping or introducing foreign matter into the jar will maximize shelf life. All expiration dates are best guesses; your nose and tongue are the best judge of product freshness!