You’d think I’d love this question, being the sort of person who likes to impose his taste on others, but I don’t. I love all my beans! They all serve a different function and I love each one in a different way. If our descriptions of the beans aren’t helping you enough, why not try the Desert Island Sampler? These are a collection of our current crop of beans that I’d take with me to a desert island. I think it’s a good place to start. —Steve Sando, Founder and CEO

It can be frustrating when you fall in love with a bean and suddenly it’s gone. But unlike companies that just distribute beans, we grow them and they are a vegetable and once this year’s crop ends, there’s no magic reserve we can call on. It’s the downside of offering fresh dried beans but it’s nature!
Occasionally we’ll retire a variety but we’re saving seed stock and will grow it again in the future. This is pretty rare.

We do! You can purchase them online HERE and at our retail store in Napa. 

It normally takes us 2 to 5 business days to process orders. If we are experiencing further shipping delays, we will add a note to the checkout page with further information.

We process and ship orders from Northern California Monday through Friday, via FedEx or US Postal Service. Please call us (707/259-1935) to arrange for faster shipping if you need your order to arrive by a certain date.

Bean Club Shipping is All Inclusive in the quarterly rate.

FREE SHIPPING on each order $50 and over (applies to one shipping location per order within the United States; orders that qualify for free shipping are shipped via USPS or FedEx)

For orders less than $50:

Our flat-fee shipping charge via FedEx Ground or US Postal Service is $11 (regardless of weight; customer can select the preferred shipping method)
One pound or One Thousand pounds, it's the same price.
*All shipments to Hawaii, Alaska, P.O. boxes, and APO/FPO/DPO addresses must go via USPS.

We don't, but if you take advantage of our flat rate shipping fee, the more you buy, the less expensive the final price per pound is for you. We know of many offices or groups of friends who get together to place one large order and the shipping is negligible.

We do ship to Canada via FedEx International Express services. Shipping rates are based on weight and zip code, and include GST.

If you live in Canada and would like to order online, please visit https://www.ranchogordo.com/collections/heirloom-beans-canada. You can view the shipping costs before completing your purchase. All prices are in US dollars.

At this point, we are not able to ship to countries other than the US and Canada.

There are many thoughts and no one perfect way to make beans. Soaking the beans will speed up the cooking but you have to wait to do it so how much time are you really saving? We often soak in the morning and cook the beans in the afternoon for dinner but we also just cook the beans and wait for them to be done. Most employees here start as avid soakers and end up just cooking without soaking. We feel a key step is to allow the beans to really come to a full boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until tender. See our Cooking page for tips and our master bean recipe.

Cranberry, Marcella, Alubia Blanca, or even Royal Corona.

Tarbais is the classic but we have grown Tarbais seed (from Tarbes, France) here in California. We are marketing the beans as Cassoulet out of respect for the terroir of the French Tarbais bean. We also like using Royal Coronas and many like Flageolet.

Yellow Eyes or Mayocoba.

Another favorite subject! In our business, we call this a "Gift With Purchase." All I can say is Mexico and India, and other legume-eating countries don’t seem to be as obsessed about it as we are. I believe the more you eat, the less you are bothered, despite what the childish rhyme says.  If you haven’t had beans in a long while and saddle up to a huge bowl of chili, chances are you may suffer. But when you incorporate beans into your daily diet, they rarely are a problem.

Many, many people believe that soaking the beans and changing the water helps.

You can and we’re always flattered when people do. It’s best to plant the beans as soon as your soil is warm, after your last frost.

Please note: we sell the beans as food, and while you can plant them and have great success in the garden, we make no guarantees about germination and we can’t offer any support in growing them. We just don’t have the manpower, and the requirements vary by region. Your best bet is to contact your local Master Gardeners association. We also have a Facebook Group called "Rancho Gordo Bean Buddies," where members can ask and answer questions about growing. Membership is free, and each spring we send beans to members interested in trying them out in their gardens. 

It’s unfortunate but most of us don’t have wise old grandmothers to aid us in the kitchen and warn us about this and that.  I would have thought it was obvious but I have to say it: Our intention is that you thoroughly cook the beans before eating them. Soaking is not cooking. You need to cook the beans until they are soft and delicious. You will not enjoy them less than completely cooked and apparently they make some people sick.

Rancho Gordo does not have a certified gluten-free facility. We don't process any gluten-containing products, but inadvertent cross contamination is a rare but real possibility. Our beans need to be picked over and rinsed well before cooking, so the issue of gluten isn't the same as it would be for other ready-to-eat products or processed food.

No. Most of our beans are grown with no preventative spraying but these are heirlooms and in some cases, we are the sole source of commercial seed. If the yields are low or a crop is threatened, we can use conventional farming techniques. In some cases we have to use fertilizers, depending on the soil. Our main mission is preserving these heirloom varieties and making them commercially viable.

Yes, all of our beans are heirloom and non-GMO.

We’re always looking for good partners to help us sell our products. They are welcome to call us and set up a wholesale account. See our Where to Buy page for stores that might be in your area. 

All of our beans are less than two years old (95% less than one year) and we store them in a climate-controlled facility. The shelf life of a dry bean can be extended many years beyond that, but we like to offer the freshest dried beans possible. Beans are vegetables that are planted in the spring and harvested in autumn, but they don’t always get cleaned and processed right as they come out of the field so we may introduce the new stock later in the year, depending on need and availability.

It would be great if you could eat beans within six months but easily they have their charms past five years if you store them in a dark, cool, dry place. We would tell you the age of some commercial beans but it might upset you!

No, our packaging is not airtight.

We do! Call us at 707/259-1935 x104 or email wholesale@ranchogordo.com for more information.