Our natural almond and pecan products do not contain any additives or preservatives. Our retail packaged natural walnuts are treated with rosemary extract, which is a natural flavorless ingredient that helps preserve freshness. Additionally, some of our seasoned products do contain preservatives, such as the rosemary extract. Please check individual ingredient statements.

Yes, our products are naturally 100% gluten-free. However, some of our products are packaged in a facility that also processes products with gluten.

No, our products have not been genetically modified. Genetically modified almonds and walnuts are not planted in California. New varieties and modifications are made using conventional plant breeding methods.

Our almonds are pasteurized. The requirement to pasteurize almonds stems back to salmonella outbreaks in 2003 and 2004 in the U.S. and Canada linked to almonds. Following a significant amount of research, The Almond Board of California worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to require that California almonds be pasteurized and the regulation took effect in 2007. This regulation now includes nearly all almonds found in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, including organic almonds. A few growers who only sell very small amounts directly to consumers can be exempt from the law. We feel that it is our responsibility to work to provide a safe, pathogen-free nut to reduce the risk of illness from a healthy and popular product.

There are no requirements at this time to pasteurize other nuts, so it is not our standard practice to pasteurize all walnuts and pecans. We do have a new, state-of-the-art steam pasteurizer in-house that is used to pasteurize some walnut products depending on the specification. Additionally, like almonds, steps are taken at every level from the field to the table to ensure a safe product. This includes following Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) with traceability measures and employing stringent safety steps at our facilities to eliminate risk at all levels.

Our almonds are pasteurized. We are legally required to pasteurize almonds before selling them, so we do not offer unpasteurized almonds.

Experts confirm that pasteurization does not change the nutritional value of almonds. Several acceptable pasteurization methods exist, including steam, oil roasting, dry roasting, blanching, or applying a surface treatment of propylene oxide (PPO), which is approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for use in food products such as cocoa powder, spices, and nuts.

Yes, our products are kosher certified.

Yes, we currently sell retail packaged organic almonds and walnuts. Please refer to our products pages for more details on our offering.

Yes, we are located at 19 E Grant Ave in Winters, CA. Our storefront is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 4pm.

Yes, we offer wholesale pricing for small businesses. Please use our Contact Us page to inquire.

The annual California harvest for both almonds and walnuts is in the fall. For more detail about the full lifecycle of almonds and walnuts, please refer to our product lifecycle page.

Additionally, the Almond Board website at www.almonds.com or the walnut board at www.walnuts.org are great resources.

We recommend storing nuts in a cool, dry place like the refrigerator or freezer. Please reference our storage and handling page for more details on best practices.

Walnuts naturally vary in color, ranging from extra light to amber. All colors are sold commercially and enjoyed by consumers. Light walnuts have a mild, earthy flavor with subtle tannins. Light amber walnuts have a more robust flavor, smoother tannins, and a slightly sweet finish. Often, the same tree will produce both light and dark walnuts.

As multi-generational growers in the state of California, our family along with all the growers we partner with see being good stewards of our natural resources and land as vital. Water is a precious resource and a significant cost for growers, who must pay for either water access and delivery or for energy to power groundwater pumps. Efficient irrigation is essential to both tree health and water conservation efforts. Efficient irrigation is essential to both the trees' health and water conservation efforts.

Our orchards use micro-irrigation or subsurface drip systems with zero runoff. We carefully monitor water needs using soil moisture monitoring devices placed throughout the orchards. This data, combined with information from California's regional automated weather stations, allows us to precisely tailor irrigation to the needs of specific trees.

As an industry, the Almond Board of California has focused efforts over recent decades to highlight our sustainability efforts through the California Almond Stewardship Program. The almond industry has seen a 33% reduction in water usage from 1990 to 2010, and we are tracking towards an additional 15% by 2025 all through improvement in irrigation techniques. 

Our orchards are important to the overall environment, with California almond orchards helping sequester about 30 metric tons of carbon each year. Outside of improvements in water usage as described in the FAQ above, research is ongoing to develop more sustainable farming practices. This includes reducing water runoff, optimizing irrigation timing, and closely monitoring tree health and soil moisture. 

In addition to the farming side, the Mariani family is investing in making our processing facilities more sustainable. Mariani Nut Company is becoming fully solar-powered with the installation of over 10,000 solar panels at our Buckeye Facility. Additionally, we have invested in electric forklifts to reduce carbon emissions. By 2025, our forklift fleet will be fully electric.

As growers and processors, we achieve zero waste in our orchards by putting everything we grow to optimal use. The hulls and shells from our almonds and walnuts are valuable byproducts, used for livestock feed and bedding. We are actively participating in research efforts that are exploring other potential uses for our byproducts.