California is a huge nut-growing area –and Almonds are the earliest ones to shipped.
“This year’s crop is estimated to be 3 Billion pounds..”, according to Jake Samuel, CEO of Sunrise Fresh Dried Fruit, “This increase is attributed to a good bloom, favorable weather in February and a large number of younger orchards coming into full production –around 100,000 additional acres!”
Sunrise Fresh Dried Fruit, besides being a provider of premium dried fruits is also a grower of both California Almonds and Walnuts. In addition, Sunrise Fresh has developed snacks that use both dried cherries, almonds, walnuts and even pecans.
“ This year, we will harvest approximately 1 million lbs. of Almonds, followed immediately by 2 million pounds of Walnuts – and this year, it looks as though we will have some overlap –which is a challenge for the Crews.
Harvest 2020 has not been completely issue-free, as smoke from wildfires have lowered the ambient temperature, causing slower ripening. “This will not affect the Almond quality…” continued Samuel, “…but the lower orchard temperature will slow the drying process and lengthen the overall time of harvest.”