We hull and shell approximately 20% of the almonds we handle in-house. This allows us to pay particular attention to the quality of the almonds as well as the timing of their delivery to our processing area.
Hilltop Ranch utilizes the latest technology for sorting whole natural and inshell almonds efficiently. We employ experienced hand sorters to remove defective almonds and foreign materials from product prior to packaging.
We pack each lot to our customer’s specific instructions and our hand sorters are knowledgeable on what level of inspection is necessary. All this is done while quality control technicians track the progress of each order.
Hilltop’s entire facility is BRC (British Retail Consortium) Certified. This is the highest level of food safety available. The BRC certification puts us in the top tier of all almond processors/handlers in the field of food safety.
Our on-site laboratory, managed by our experienced QA Manager, can test for all variances of pathogens, as well as performing micro testing. Accuracy is key to Hilltop Ranch, testing almonds prior to shipment is just another way we provide top-notch service to our customers.
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.