California's New Cash Crop is Quinoa? CNBC's Wells Discusses

California's new cash crop might be quinoa, a gluten-free, high in protein plant food that requires little watering, CNBC's Jane Wells reports today.
By Lindsay Rittenhouse ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- California's latest cash crop may be quinoa, a gluten-free, high-protein plant food that requires minimal watering, CNBC's Jane Wells said on "Squawk Box" Tuesday.

"You may have grilled hamburgers or hot dogs yesterday for the Fourth (of July), but as more Americans switch to plant-based diets, the quinoa craze keeps flowering and it could be California's new cash crop," Wells commented.

Richvale, CA-based Lundberg Family Farms is one of the largest growers of grain and rice for companies like Whole Foods Market (WFM) .

The family-owned organic farm recently started to grow quinoa, as well, which is typically produced on the Andes mountains in South America. Last year Lundberg produced around 500,000 pounds of the plant, according to Wells.

"It's not easy, it's new. It's brand new and I think a lot of people come to us and say well you've got to grow it at 10,000 feet. And here we are right on the edge of the Pacific Ocean," Lundberg Family Farms' Bryce Lundberg told Wells. 

The quinoa is growing "beautifully" so far at around 50 feet above sea level, Lundberg noted.

Shares of Whole Foods are declining by 0.61% to $32.48 early Tuesday morning.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings rated Whole Foods as a "hold" with a score of C.

The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and notable return on equity.

However, as a counter to these strengths, TheStreet Ratings finds that the stock has had a generally disappointing performance in the past year.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: WFM

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

Loading ...