Harry Hill's Nuts !

Harry Hill's nuts ! Yes, he is ... but he's funny too. No, I'm not telling you he IS nuts, I'm telling you about a new product to hit the shelves called Harry's Nuts - Fairtrade salted peanuts and Fairtrade salted cashews.

I have to admit to being a bit dubious when I initially saw these bags of nuts with Harry's face emblazoned all over them, groaning inwardly and thinking it was just another celeb moneyspinner, but it's actually all for a good cause. Harry makes no money at all from sales of these nuts. He's lending his fame and face to Liberation Nuts, the Fairtrade company backed by Comic Relief which supplies the UK with most of its Fairtrade nuts and which is co-owned by farming groups in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to help smallholder farmers in Malawi, Mozambique and other very poor countries to make a living for their families.

According to the press release, "Harry launched the nuts after travelling to Malawi and meeting some of the peanut farmers, many of whom are women looking after AIDS orphans. He heard that the benefits which come with Fairtrade are a huge help to them. [...] Joshua Varela of the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi explains: "A big motivation for the farmers is to earn enough money to send their children to secondary school. There are no pensions in Malawi apart from for civil servants. Farmers are on their own out there with no support for the future. So knowing that your child has a job is a more secure future for them. They know their child will take care of them if they are lucky enough to reach an old age."

OK, so some celebs make themselves look ridiculous on charity dance shows and others sell nuts. Whatever they do, it's got to be a good thing if they use their name and popularity to raise funds for those who most need them.

The nuts themselves come in bags that are just the right size to share out to the whole family in front of the telly - 120g for the peanuts and 90g for the cashews - but there are also individual 50g-sized bags of peanuts available in vending machines. They're not mindblowingly different to other nuts on the market but they are tasty. I found that they had just the right degree of crunch and saltiness and, compared to other nuts, they seemed to leave my fingers less greasy.

But let's be honest, you'll be buying these for the people behind them more than the contents of the pack, whether that be because you're a big fan of Harry Hill and love the packaging or because you want to do your bit to help the Fairtrade farmers.

star rating : 5/5

RRP : 99p for the big bags, 59p for the small bags

Harry's Nuts! are available in Sainsbury's and Waitrose stores and smaller outlets.