Almonds

Nonpareil, Independence & Carmel by count per ounce

Almonds are contracted on two axes that buyers routinely conflate: variety type and count per ounce. Variety sets the shape, skin and how the kernel behaves — Nonpareil is the flat, smooth-skinned, thin-shelled premium type that blanches and slices cleanly and is what you specify when the kernel is visible; Independence is a self-fertile Nonpareil-type that has taken over new Californian plantings and delivers close appearance at a lower cost; Carmel sits in the California type group with a wrinklier skin, well suited to roasting, coating and grinding where appearance does not carry. Count per ounce is the size language on top of variety: 18/20 and 20/22 are the bold counts, 23/25 and 25/27 are the mainstream sizes, 27/30 and 30/32 are small and price lower. Fewer nuts to the ounce means a bigger kernel and a higher price.

What you are actually deciding is whether appearance survives your process. Nonpareil 20/22 in a retail nut pack, on a chocolate bar or in a blanched slivered line earns its premium because every kernel is seen. The same nut in almond flour, marzipan, praline, almond milk or a coated snack is money burned — Carmel, California-type pool material or even shelled seconds do the identical job. CBIL arranges Californian supply alongside Australian and Spanish, with SGS or Intertek certification of count per ounce, moisture at ≤ 6%, chipped-and-scratched and doubles percentage, foreign matter, aflatoxin, and — where the destination requires it — pasteurisation status, since the US mandates a validated pasteurisation step for almonds sold domestically and many EU buyers now specify it too. Aflatoxin again splits the market: EU limits for direct-consumption nuts sit at 2 ppb B1 / 4 ppb total against roughly 15 ppb total elsewhere, and we write the limit to your destination. Kernels ship in 22.68 kg (50 lb) cartons, vacuum packs and nitrogen-flushed formats, container-load, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.