California almonds, California pistachios, California walnuts.
The sections below set out how almonds get specified, because that is where the vocabulary causes the most trouble. The same disciplines apply to the other lines: grade and size written out rather than implied by a name, crop year established, contaminant limits fixed against the destination, and packing and realistic container payload confirmed with the processor. Detailed specification for California pistachios and California walnuts on enquiry.
Almond kernels are specified by count per ounce, written as a range such as 20/22 or 23/25. The count is the number of kernels in an ounce, so a lower number means a larger kernel. 18/20 is a large kernel; 36/40 is a small one.
This catches buyers who read the numbers as a dimension and assume higher is bigger. We confirm the direction explicitly in every enquiry rather than assume it is shared.
Almonds trade under market classes as well as variety names, and the two are not the same thing. Nonpareil is a single variety. California and Mission are classes covering several varieties with broadly similar characteristics.
This matters because variety constrains size. Not every variety runs to the large counts, so an enquiry naming a variety that does not typically reach the size requested is a specification mismatch rather than a sourcing problem. Where a requested combination looks unlikely, we ask the processor what the crop actually produces before pricing it.
For in-shell almonds, shell hardness is a property of the variety, not a process applied afterwards. A buyer describing a shell thin enough to crack by hand is describing paper shell or soft shell material, and that points to particular varieties rather than to a machining step.
An enquiry for a mechanically thinned shell in a variety that is naturally hard will not be quotable. The productive question is which varieties a processor carries in-shell and how those crack — not whether a shell can be thinned to order.
Aflatoxin ceilings depend on the destination and on whether the product is sold ready-to-eat or for further sorting and processing — those two carry different limits under the same regulation. The figures for other nut categories are not interchangeable with those for tree nuts, and carrying a number across from another commodity is a costly mistake to discover at a border.
We fix the applicable limit, the sampling plan and who pays for testing in the contract, against the regulation actually in force for the destination.
California harvests roughly August to October, with new crop shipping from around October. An enquiry for prompt shipment late in the season is often asking for the tail of the previous crop, which is a different conversation on both price and availability. Crop year gets established on every offer.
Commonly 25 kg cartons or bags, or 1,000 kg flexible intermediate bulk containers. We confirm packing, marking and realistic container payload with the processor rather than assuming a figure.