There's a new nut in town. A brand-new, Irving based company, called Lord Nut Levington, is offering a line of seasoned peanuts that come in five less than predictable flavors: Rebel Mary (tomato, garlic, Worcestershire Sauce, etc.); El Cheddarales (cheddar cheese and jalapeño); Mamma Mia (tomato, garlic, and cheese), Thai Dyed (Thai curry and lemongrass; and Cinnapplooza (cinnamon, apples and vanilla). All without artificial flavors or colors.
The name of the company is also the name of a fictional character who has made it his life mission to rid the world of bland through his Taste Resistance. On the Lord Nut site, each flavor has a wild "adventure" story explaining how that particular flavor came to be.
"It took a while to name our handsome chap Nut," founder Sanjiv Patel explains. "Having searched high and low for a suitable title we eventually found 'Levington,' which is the name of a small village in England. The alliteration was fun and it just looked good on him."
Patel spent more than two years creating Lord Nut Levington, because, he says, "Peanuts need a makeover right now." And, he adds, he enjoys working with a product that he himself can take home to share and enjoy with family and friends.
The project, to Patel's mind, is as much about making great peanuts as it is about crafting the ultimate branding experience. "I think people enjoy the experience of a product that goes beyond the actual taste. Of course our flavors are scrumptious, but we also wanted to make people smile and [let them] escape to the fantasy world of Nut."
Although they are still working on distributing the product on a broad scale, which Patel says will take some time, he also says that Lord Nuts, "has been turning heads with his sharp demeanor." In part to compensate for the nuts not being available in stores, shipping is free online and that, he promises, will never change.
As for the peanuts' flavors, well, Patel says, "Everyone loves different ones, which is great." He says it can be a bit nerve wracking waiting to hear what folks think, but he loves watching their reactions. So far, so far good he says.
On a side note, curiously, when I ask him from where he sources the peanuts and ingredients and where the final product is crafted and packaged, all he says is, "No comment" with a smile.
More info at www.LordNut.com ($5.49 a canister, free shipping)
