The Currant Company Story

The Currant Company® was the first company in America to domestically produce a nationally available Black Currant product of any kind. In 2005, it introduced the wonderfully delicious, incredibly healthy CurrantC™ all natural, premium black currant nectar. CurrantC nectar is available in the refrigerated section of supermarkets across America and Canada. In 2009, the company developed 5 new delicious flavors of black currant based nectars. All CurrantC black currant nectars contain a higher percentage of black currants than other ‘ready to drink’ beverages.

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Why did Greg Quinn create CurrantC™ Black Currant Nectars?

When Greg Quinn and Carolyn Blackwood bought Walnut Grove Farm in 1999, Greg wanted to find a crop that would be profitable enough to support the farm. Of course the words "farm" and "profit" are not often found in the same sentence. After some searching for that suitable crop, he stumbled upon the idea of currants. Quinn knew about currants from his restaurant days in Bavaria. Black currants are very healthy. They are packed with antioxidants, vitamin C, potassium, as well as iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium and best of all, the flavor is unique and absolutely delicious. A botanical disease called white pine blister rust was thought to harm white pines if currants were grown in their proximity. Currants have remained off the radar of the American consciousness for almost 100 years. An interesting side note is that what Americans think are real "currants", those raisiny things one puts in their scones, are actually not currants at all but are raisins or dried grapes. Armed with a horticultural background (20 years teaching at The New York Botanical Garden) Quinn did some research into the disease. He deduced that the science behind the ban was incomplete and outdated. There are now resistant and immune varieties. Quinn worked with Cornell University Cooperative Extension to obtain a grant to fund a feasibility study into the possibility of a currant industry in the U.S. The conclusion was glowingly positive, not only for an industry of food products, but also to help family farms, many of which are hanging on by their financial fingernails.

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