Almonds are thought to have originated centuries ago in ancient China and Central Asia. An ancestor of stone fruits such as nectarines, peaches, plums, and cherries, the almond is categorized botanically as a fruit. The almond fruit grows on trees closely resembling peach trees in size and shape. They have a tough gray-green hull similar to that of an elongated peach. At maturity, the hull splits open to reveal the almond shell, which encloses the nut. Our almonds are California grown from our local growers and are Non-GMO, Gluten free, Kosher certified.

         It was this nut that explorers carried with them as sustenance while traveling along the “Silk Road” between Asia and the Mediterranean. While passing through that land, it provided fertile ground for almonds that were well known to be popular along the route. Dry, hot summers and winter rains proved to be ideal growing conditions. Thus, almond trees spread across the Mediterranean, where they flourished in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and throughout the region. Spain and Italy eventually became the first major almond producers.

        Spanish Monks settling missions along the west coast of America were the first to plant almond trees in California. The cool, wet weather of the coast hindered development of almonds as an annual crop. It wasn’t until settlers began moving further inland that they discovered almonds flourished in the Mediterranean-like climate for which central California has become famous. Almond orchards began to prosper along the great Central Valley, a 400-mile stretch of the world’s most productive farmland. Today, more than 6,000 growers farm an estimated 5,000,000 acres of almond trees, making almonds the number one tree crop in California. These growers continue this traditional nut in today’s commodity markets. We are proud to continue to provide this precious delicacy as a family-owned almond manufacturing plant based in Modesto, California.