Almonds in the New World

Almonds didn't make it to America until late in the eighteenth century when Spanish Franciscan priest, Father Junipero Serra, planted almond trees up and down the California coast. Requiring a hot, dry climate to flourish, these original almond plantings fared poorly in the cool, wet weather of the coastal missions.

California Dreaming

Nearly 100 years later, California pioneers hit upon just the right combination of climate and almond variety. And just like that - an industry was born. California's hot Central Valley provided the perfect Mediterranean conditions under which the almond had thrived for centuries, and early growers carefully selected almond species that were well adapted to the area. To this day, California is still the only place in North America where almonds are grown commercially.

A Thriving Industry

By the turn of the 20th Century, the almond industry had firmly taken root in California. Today, the majority of the state's almond farms are still located in its grand Central Valley. Currently, over 600,000 acres of almond orchards stretch from Bakersfield to Red Bluff. Thanks largely to advanced methods of growing, sorting, hulling and processing, California's total almond production has nearly quadrupled in the last 30 years.