Processing Plant

Needle Sorter
This barrel is lined with thousands of sharp needles. The in-shell pistachios are fed into the back of the turning barrel. As the nuts roll across the needles, the needles hook into the split of the shell. The pistachios that do not have a split shell have nothing for the needle to hook into and therefore roll on out the end of the barrel. The pistachios that are caught on a needle ride to the top of the barrel, where a brush cleans them off the needles and drops them into a chute which channels them into a waiting container in front of the needle sorter. This is the way Eagle Ranch separates the split shells from the pistachios that do not have split shells.

Nutmeat Color Sorter
The Color Sorter is a highly sophisticated machine used to separate the pistachio nutmeats by color. Once the pistachio has shed the outer shell, the nutmeat naturally has a variety of colors. In order to provide the gourmet quality in our pistachios, Eagle Ranch sorts out nutmeats with discolorations. The Color Sorter can be set to differentiate between “acceptable” and “unacceptable” colorations.

In-Shell Color Processing
The in-shell pistachio also goes through a color sorting process. In America, the consumer likes "pretty" food. Even though we don't eat the shell, we still want it to be unblemished. This sorter will "see" stains on the shell and separate those nuts from the rest. Those pistachios that are separated out because of a blemish on the shell, will go to the Sheller to remove the shell, and be sold as a nutmeat. Those nuts that have been sorted out because of the shell not being split (from the needle sorter) will also be shelled and be sold as a nutmeat.

Hand Sorting
Our market niche is a premium gourmet product. To ensure that our pistachios are the best, every nut passes by the eyes of the ladies working on the sorting table. They pick out anything that isn't up to our high standards. Although 98% of the separation and sorting of the nuts is done by machine, there is nothing as good as looking at it with the human eye. The sorters at Eagle Ranch remove the 2% of “unacceptable” products that the machines have missed.