In late summer and fall our almond huller and sheller run 24 hours per day, 7 days a week for a period of about 3 months. The nuts are first brought in from the orchards as field run, which consists of almonds still in the shell and hull. Each load of field run is weighed and tracked based on grower, field and variety. In 2017, we completed a major expansion and renovation of our hulling facility to increase higher throughput and produce a higher quality product for ourselves and our growers.
From Field to Finish
The Field Run is kept in individual stockpiles until the entirety of the product is brought in from each lot. It is then moved into the pre-cleaner to remove any debris; such as dirt, rocks and/or sticks. Next, the huller removes the soft outer hull of the almonds. Some almonds will leave the ranch as inshell after this process in complete. If it does not get shipped as inshell it will then move to the sheller where they will pass through a series of sheer rolls and crackers depending upon the hardness of the shell, which differs by variety. Shelled almonds will be shipped out as kernels to various processors. Both hulling and shelling are carefully overseen by our experienced, trained employees so that we can result in the best possible product.
Almond hulls and shells are byproducts of the hulling and shelling process. The hulls are shipped to dairies for cattle feed; the shells are used for compost products, livestock bedding and cogeneration facilities.
Commitments to Quality
C.F. Koehnen & Sons is a member of the Almond Alliance and through the years have received a Recognition of Excellence with regards to our participation in the Good Manufacturing Practices Program, making every effort to provide a quality and safe food product. Prior to the start of our harvest we disassemble our equipment to inspect, clean and sanitize. Our employees receive on-going food safety training and are highly skilled in operating our almond hulling and shelling facilities. In 2017 we upgraded our plant to a new state of the art facility to provide the best possible product.
