Crown Nut Co., operated by Mike Sandhu and members of his family, is shipping an average of 44,000 pounds a day — the equivalent of a 40-foot steel container — mostly to overseas markets.
“Almond consumption is climbing each year all over the world,” Sandhu said. “We are seeing major increases for almonds in places like India and China.”
He said Indians have been eating almonds, mostly as snack food, for centuries, and a growing middle class that is becoming more health-conscious is boosting consumption. In China, where consumer buying power has exploded in recent years, almonds are used mostly in traditional Chinese dishes.
And in Europe, candy makers are a prime customer for California almonds, which account for nearly 75 percent of worldwide production.
The majority of almonds being processed at the Chrisman Road facility — a $6 million investment — come from more than 5,000 acres of Sandhu almond orchards, mostly in the Tracy area. Young trees will be coming online in the next few years, and another 1,000 acres are being planted with almonds this year.
Once they are shaken from trees, the almonds are trucked to the Chrisman Road facility, where operations are centered in a 24,000-square-foot building completed a year ago and expanded by a 12,000-square-feet addition. A 24,000 square-foot warehouse building is now under construction.
The plant has a capacity of processing 100,000 pounds of almonds daily. At this point, 44,000 pounds of almonds in the shell and up to 18,000 pounds of shelled almonds are being processed each day.
The 45 employees work in shifts every day of the week, first removing the hulls, then cleaning and grading almonds remaining in shells, a majority of the crop.
Those that are shelled have the meat graded and sized by electronic and human sorting before being placed in 50-pound cardboard containers for shipment.
The in-shell almonds go into 50-pound plastic bags to be shipped.
Many of the containers carry the almonds to the Port of Oakland for overseas delivery. Exports are expected to account for half of California’s 2012 record crop of nearly 2 billion pounds of meats produced from 750,000 bearing acres.
Although production is up because of increased plantings, this year’s almond crop has come in slightly below original projections, increasing demand and boosting prices, Sandhu said.
“We used to get a few calls each day for orders. Now we get 25 or 30, and we can’t fill them all,” he said.
Little goes to waste. The hulls are sold to dairies and cattle operations for feed, and shells become feed, too, after soaking up nutrients from silage.
Mike Sandhu’s son, P.J., recently returned from China, which for the first time has become the leading export destination for almonds from California.
P.J. Sandhu is heading the processing and sales end of the Sandhu almond operation, and another son, Aman, is managing the farming.
The future of growing, processing and shipping nuts looks bright, said Mike Sandhu, who came to the Tracy area from Merced in 1996.
“We expect to double almond production every two years,” he said, “and next year we will begin processing and shipping walnuts.”
Had a bad night I see an woke up kinda witchie spelled with a b. Here I complement ya fer seein through th guise an ya accuse me of bein a drunk. Don't drink. Never did. So tell me, what's yer excuse fer such a bad night's sleep ta cause ya ta tell someone ta shut up, thair a fool an a drunk? Hope ya have a better day than ya started this one out.
Fer someone who seems ta value th right ta free speech one wonders why ya are so inclined ta deny th same right ta someone else.
Have a nice day.
Anyway, good article Sam. At some point we'll have an almond / bean fest?
Nicely done.
It's disrespectful ta Audrey as I would never say somethang like that an never have. It's also disrespectful ta th readers by givin them a false impression of what's really goin on in our community.
It's also disrespectful ta me as well but I can get over it.
An it's also disrespectful ta Mr Fap-itty-do-dap in that he or she obviously has nothin of real importance ta say an has nothin better ta entertain himself by attakin me an usin Audrey as th scapegoat. It takes a real brave man ta go out of his way ta make someone look stupid an end up insultin someone innocently standin on th sidelines.
Thanks RHCP at least ya caught on ta th fraudulent attempt.
Same goes ta Amlee1979 as well. We don't always agree but ya at least know who I am as Ornley an aren't easily fooled by imposters.
Don't quite know how ta respond ta Bird_Man since his comment seems ta indicate his approval of th fraudulent post with his "Nicely done" comment.
An it's not really all that strange in an election season. It's easier ta attack th message bearer than it is ta discuss th issues ya really probably don't know anythang about. That's entertainment fer ya.
Now ta th story. Almonds. Absolutely love em an thair so good fer ya. Lots of calcium an high in omega-3 fatty acids that's good fer ya too.
Almond milk, much better than dairy in my opinion.
Roasted an ground up in a milk shake, nice desert too. Good snack food ta munch on. Been eatin em since I was old enough ta crack em open usin a little hammer.
An it's a local business doin good, that's like frostin on th cake. Good on th owners, wish em a world of success.
Oh, an Almond Shrimp is absolutely fantastic, if ya like shrimp an almonds. Very big dish in China.