As we continue to receive emails confirming the inevitable cancellation or postponement of our favorite shows and events, I can’t help but feel a sense of loss and sadness over not seeing my friends and colleagues within the nut industry.

It’s not often that a game-changer comes along in nut processing, but one just has. This is the TOMRA 3C, a new optical sorting machine validated in field trials last year which achieves unrivalled sorting efficiencies and product yields.

Because so much is changing so quickly, nut processors face more challenges today than ever before. Some will have to modernize their working practices and technologies in order to survive. Others, by making best use of technologies, will turn the challenges into opportunities and thrive.

Businesses that stand still get left behind. This is especially true today in nut processing. Sticking for too long with the same old working practices and machines is standing still. Not getting left behind requires awareness of latest processing technologies and market trends. But which trends are here to stay, and how can processors profit from them, either now or in the near-future?

With endless information streaming into our lives and new actions being taken around the COVID-19 virus every day, it has many of us, including myself, asking the question: What now? How do I keep my business operating? How do I protect the health and safety of my employees? How long is this going to last? Can I get a refund on my U2 concert tickets? While we don’t have answers to all the questions, I find it helpful to recap what we know for sure, especially as it relates to the nut processing industry.

This guest article is a expert opinion piece from Axel Breuer from the Clipper Magazine.  

What does the future hold for the nut industry? Things have been mostly great for a long time. In recent interviews with the Clipper Magazine Richard Waycott, President and CEO of the Almond Board of California and Phil Zadro, mastermind of the Australian and South African macadamia industry confirmed that nut demand is continuously growing faster than supply. Hazelnuts and peanut consumption might see another boost due to the breakthroughs in allergy treatment.

TOMRA Food will showcase its sensor-based sorting solutions at the Almond Conference 2019, which will take place from December 10-12 in Sacramento, California. It will demonstrate the TOMRA 3C, the new optical sorter which is set to be a game changer for almond hulling and shelling operations. TOMRA Food will also highlight the benefits of its ground-breaking Detox Laser technology, which is having excellent success across the world with its accurate detection of aflatoxin contamination, and take part in the panel discussion “Sorting for Aflatoxin” on December 11.

The most frustrating challenges for almond producers lie around detecting the tiniest defects and removing these nuts from production. Many inspection systems simply are not sensitive enough to spot the tiniest pinhole damage, making rework by human inspectors unavoidable.

Fragments of shell becoming embedded in almond flesh is an unavoidable effect of the shelling process. Some types of almonds are more prone than others due to water content of the nut and hardness of shell.  Unfortunately for processors, embedded shell is classified as foreign material.  With confectionary companies demanding less and less foreign material, embedded shell has become one of the most focused on defects to remove.  Many confectionary companies require less than 5 pieces of foreign material per ton.  To put this into perspective, there are approximately 1 Million almonds in one metric ton, so to ask for less than 5 pieces to have embedded shell is an enormous request.

Almond doubles (twins) are just as tasty and nutritious as their single cousins, yet often cause a high quality product to be sold at a lower grade due to the challenges around blanchin or slicing the odd shape. Whilst premium whole nut brands might reject these concave nuts, there are plenty of others waiting to turn them into butter, flour or use them in snack bars.