Nonpareil
- Wide range of uses
- Easily blanched (skin is removed)
- The thin outer shell and smooth kernel allow for easy, blemish-free processing
- Used for attractive appearance or a strong almond identification
carmel
- Soft shell with good integrity
- Fair suture opening
- Medium, narrow shape, that is slightly wrinkled surface
california type
- Generally blanchable and used primarily in manufactured products
- Wide range of shell hardness, kernel shapes, skin color, and surface characteristics
- Adaptable and well suited for nearly any process or application
Mission
- Rich flavor, and small kernels are wide, and often plump
- Generally darker skin than Nonpareil and wrinkled, which enhances salt and flavor adherence
- Blanching is not as common but optional
California produces 70% of the world’s almonds, and Hilltop Ranch, Inc. is one of it’s fastest growing almond processors – numbered among a very few dynamic handlers who together ship 75% of the California almond crop.