As CEO of Sunshine Nut Company, I press forward relentlessly growing our operations in the US and Mozambique. At Sunshine Nut Co., being a little “nuts” is part of the job description. I started Sunshine Nut Co. after enjoying a successful 25-year career in the corporate food industry. In 2011, I gave it all up and moved my family to Mozambique to start Sunshine Nut Co.
It wasn’t an immediate decision. During my time as Director of Cocoa Operations at Hershey, I traveled to developing nations to source cocoa and witnessed the effects of extreme poverty firsthand. I had worked for years as the go-to “turnaround guy” at Hershey solving seemingly insurmountable problems in varying departments. This role led me to a problem that truly felt impossible – but that didn’t stop me from wanting to solve it.
In 2007, I turned down a major career move and left my corporate life for a spiritual journey to discover God’s true purpose for my life. It was in this season of listening and waiting that God spoke to me with clarity that was almost audible – saying, “Go and build food factories in developing nations to bring lasting economic transformation.” Through prayer and solitude, I then developed the Sunshine Approach business model, focusing on transforming lives at every level of the business. Not long after, I was led to Mozambique and its abundance of amazing cashews to start this grand adventure. Faced with a calling I had little desire to fulfill, I chose to be obedient. My wife and I sold everything we owned and moved our family to Mozambique.
Since we moved to Mozambique in 2011, we have found our own lives transformed. In the past nine years, we have built a world-class food factory hiring primarily adult orphans. We have developed relationships with orphanages and other community organizations throughout Mozambique where we support and develop projects with 90% of our profits. In 2014, we landed on US shelves and today, we have an all-African staff of 30 producing the best tasting cashews under the sun!
My wife, Terri, oversees all our philanthropic work as the Director of Social Impact and spends her days spreading love to the most needy in our community.
We hope when you buy our cashews, you not only taste the difference in freshness and quality, but also find hope in knowing that you are making a difference in the lives of the poor and orphaned in Mozambique.
Providing hope truly never tasted so good!
Don Larson
Founder & CEO of Sunshine Nut Co.