Fruit harvest - Import export

Productinformation Actually, almonds are not really nuts – in a botanical sense they are stone fruits. Almonds are harvested around september and october, whereas in Australia they are ripe and ready around march and april. Once planted, almond trees need four to five years to be fully developed to make a good harvest. Around march almond trees are in full bloom: Having very sensible flowers, the beautiful almond trees can be easily destroyed by sudden frost. Origin Almonds are cultivated mainly in the US, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Morocco and Australia. The first almond trees were brought from Spain to America by franziscan monks – 200 years ago. The number of plantations increased fast – until today a big industry branch producing almonds is developing in the western region of the US.

also known as argan seed oil, is the oil of the argan tree. The tree or bush belongs to the sapodilla family and grows exclusively in Morocco. it grows 7 - 10 meters high and reaches an average age of 125 - 150 years. As of the 5th year it bears fruits. 1990 the growing region in Morocco is listed by UNESO as a to be protected biosphere . The fruits are round to oval and have a green, fleshy appearance, like olives. The fruits contain 1 - 3 oval, smooth, brown, up to 2 cm long kernels with its seeds inside. For oil extraction the fallen fruits get selected. This takes place from june to september. There is no other way to harvest, as the branches of the tree are easily broken if shook. The thornes make picking the fruits by hand impossible. The harvested fruits' kernels have to be removed and split to get to its seeds. The locals grind the seeds to a brown pulp and stir it with water. By kneading the oil gets seperated from the water. The resulting press cake is used as animal feed.