Almond Process

An Almond’s Journey

It takes a lot of people working together to get a single almond to your table.  It begins in the orchard, where the almonds move from a blossom bud to a fully formed kernel, resting inside its shell and protected by a tough outer hull. The almonds are shaken from the trees, swept up, shelled and taken to one of several Blue Diamond® Growers receiving stations.  From there, they travel by truck to our large processing plant in Sacramento or our smaller plant in Salida.  Here the almond may be simply cleaned, packaged and shipped, or it may go through one of a number of processes to become part of one of our many almond products. 

The Orchards

After a brisk winter chill, buds begin to form and grow until they burst forth in a legendary springtime scene.  Bee keepers take their hives from orchard to orchard, releasing them to pollinate the blossoms before moving on to their next stop.  One of the trees’ peculiarities is their need for another almond variety nearby to cross-pollinate the blossoms, which is why every orchard contains two or more varieties.

Once pollinated, the blossom petals rain delicately down and the leaves come out as peach-like fruit appears.  Over the next several weeks, the fuzzy hull hardens and finally splits open, allowing the shell and kernel to dry.  The nut begins to separate from its stem and the hull opens completely to expose the almond shell sometime between late July and October, depending on the variety. 

After the orchard floor is swept free of debris, mechanical shakers speed the natural process by shaking the nuts and hulls to the ground, where they are left to dry for several days.  Once dry, the nuts and hulls are swept into rows, where they are picked up and transported to have their hulls and shells removed.

The Receiving Stations

The harvested nuts arrive at one of several Blue Diamond® receiving stations, located throughout California’s Central Valley. Deliveries begin in early August and are received in either bulk or in very large wooden boxes.

As almonds are received they are inspected and graded by size and quality before traveling to Blue Diamond Growers in Sacramento or Salida for further processing.

Blue Diamond Growers Processing

Around the first week in September, the nuts begin arriving at Blue Diamond Growers and continue pouring in until mid to late November. They are weighed again to make sure the amount destined for the processing plant is the same amount that arrives. Each load is sampled for quality and size, which determines how much the grower will get paid for the crop.  It’s important to note that Blue Diamond pays premium rates to growers who supply nuts that reach the cooperatives highest standards of quality.

While in storage awaiting processing, the almonds are inspected again, this time by quality control personnel who put them through a number of tests to ensure they meet rigorous standards set by Blue Diamond Growers to maintain the high quality standards expected of their products.

Before beginning processing, almonds that are not going to be oil roasted or blanched must undergo pasteurization to prevent food-borne illnesses.  Almonds are then sorted, graded, diced, sliced, slivered, crosscut, split, cubed, chopped, flaked, ground, pressed, pounded, smoked, blanched, flavored, or roasted.   Along the way, they are tested, sometimes several times, before being placed in jars, cans, boxes or bags and carefully stored until it is time for them to be shipped to stores or used as ingredients in everything from candy to cereal.

This overall process repeats itself thousands of times during the almond season and allows you to enjoy a broad variety of premium-quality almond products.