Walnuts originated in Persia (aka Iran) and have been cultivated for thousands of years (since 7000 BCE). They are thought to be one of the first tree food products known to man. Now they are grown throughout the world, with the main global players being the US, China and Iran.
In Australia we are blessed with having just about every climate zone in the world in one country - which means just about everything can be grown somewhere in Australia! Walnut trees like a temperate climate with a long growing season and cool winter. This means that walnut cultivation is suited to the very southern parts of the country.
Very few of Australia's walnut farms are organic, unfortunately. The largest organic walnut producer in Australia is in WA. For us to buy organic Australian walnuts and then activate and sell them, the cost would rocket into the stratosphere.
For a number of years now our walnuts have come from California. We did have a regular source of Bulgarian ones for some time before that, but for now the most reliable and consistent, and good quality nuts seem to be Californian.
Some years ago I launched a range of activated nuts that were Australian grown and pesticide-free - but not certified organic. After a couple of years I shut it down because nobody bought them! It seems that our customer base values organic certification over Australian grown.
Hopefully some time in the not-too-distant future there will be affordable Australian grown walnuts (and cashews, and hazelnuts!) Until then we will continue to source the freshest and highest quality imported ones we can.