America and the pecan shelling industry as a whole, has long been dominated by a handful of large pecan sheller’s who’s shelling capacity can easily handle more than 100,000 pounds per day. The pecan shelling landscape however is quickly changing to one of more “mom and pop” style sheller’s dotted across the landscape. For decades, the large pecan sheller was the market for pecans; sure, there has always been a local retail market for the budding entrepreneur who could open a storefront in the right location. But the landscape is fast changing with the internet and easy access to in-shell pecans year-round; many new “micro-shellers” are popping up and reaping a bountiful reward for separating the shell from Americas favorite nut. The “micro-shellers” are changing the landscape of the American Pecan and how the world purchases and consumes the American Pecan. “It’s simple numbers, if I can pay for my initial investment and make money in the first 3 months, it’s a no brainer” says one new “micro-sheller”. He is referring of course to the wide margins between the cost to purchase in-shell pecans and the profit to shell and retail them. High quality in-shell pecans can be purchased for around 2.80 to 3.00 and when shelled can be sold for over $6.00 leaving the sheller with a handsome profit. But many don’t stop there, most “micro-sheller’s” will add their own special recipe to the shelled pecans such as chocolate covered or rosemary and garlic or a myriad of other flavors that only add more value to the American Pecan. The internet has definitely given rise to a whole new landscape in the pecan shelling industry.