From field to pack: a nut’s journey through our facility

When we take a handful of nuts from a pack, we rarely stop to think that they are there at the end of a long journey from the field to our table. At our 12,000 m² facility in Gümüşler, tonnes of product make part of that journey every day. In this article we follow, step by step, the path a nut takes through our facility.

1. Sourced directly from farmers

The journey starts in the field. Crops carefully grown by our farmers are sourced directly from them and brought to our facility. Buying raw materials at source means we know where the product comes from and can follow its quality from the very beginning. Every batch that arrives is checked before processing.

2. Cleaning: washing, destoning and sortex

Produce from the field naturally contains dust, stones, stems and other foreign matter, so the first job is cleaning. Depending on the product, the following steps are applied:

• Washing: removing dust and dirt from the surface.
• Destoning: separating stones and hard particles of a similar size to the product.
• Sortex and colour sorting: optical sorting machines scan the flowing product with cameras and use jets of air to remove any kernels whose colour or appearance falls outside the standard.

The cleaned products are kept in raw material warehouses until they are needed for production.

The cleaning steps matter for flavour as well as safety. A batch made up of kernels of similar size and colour also roasts evenly, so every kernel in the pack tastes the same.

3. Roasting

Production is planned according to the flow of orders. When its turn comes, the raw material is taken from the warehouse and sent to the roasting ovens and, depending on the product, to other units. With a roasting capacity of 50 tonnes a day, we roast many products — from sunflower seeds to roasted chickpeas, from hazelnuts to pistachios — in a way that suits each one. Every product has its own roasting time and temperature, and steps such as salting and seasoning also take place at this stage.

4. Packing and dispatch

Once roasted and cooled, the products move on to the packing lines. Multihead weighers weigh the product precisely, and packing machines fill and seal the packs. Our packing capacity of 600,000 packs a day allows products to be packed shortly after roasting. Packing is carried out according to our customers’ requests and needs.

Boxed products are dispatched from our warehouses to retail points. Our aim is for every nut to reach the consumer as fresh as on the first day.

The people behind the journey

Every step of this process carries the work of our 125-strong team. The journey from field to pack is monitored and continuously improved within our food safety management system. Next time you open a pack of Altıntop, we would be glad if you remembered a little of that journey.