California almond acreage was less than 400,000 when the Central California Almond Growers Association first built its Kerman plant. Today almond acreage exceeds 1 million in California, creating a necessity for additional hulling, shelling and processing capacity.Todd Fitchette
A multi-million capital project to improve processing efficiencies at the world's largest almond huller and sheller will double throughput at its large central California location.
New hulling and shelling equipment will be installed in time for the 2020 harvest season as the large grower cooperative prepares to accept over 160 million pounds of almonds by 2022.
Michael Kelley, president and CEO of the Central California Almond Growers Association, says the project is needed to keep pace with internal growth among existing members. Membership in the cooperative was closed recently because of the hulling and shelling capacities.
Now in its 57th season, CCAGA is coming off another record year as over 136 million pounds of almonds were hulled and shelled last season.
California produces about 2.5 billion pounds of almonds annually and is predicted to hit 3 billion pounds in the next few seasons.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like