Success Story - Morada Nuts, USA

Morada Nut is a third generation family farm specializing in growing and processing walnuts, cherries, onions and bell peppers, located in Linden, California.High quality food is a priority for the farm so ensuring that they have the very best in food sorting technology is a must to serve safe and delicious walnuts for their customers to enjoy.Headquartered in the fertile San Joaquin County, Morada Nut is owned and operated by the Foppiano family, whose farming traditions began during the California Gold Rush in 1849. Owner Henry J. “Skip” Foppiano III looks back on a deep farming history. Skip’s dedication and respect for his family’s farming traditions grew from generations past, beginning with his great grandparents Giovanni and Caterina Foppiano that moved from Italy to California in 1849. His grandfather planted one of the first cherry orchards in the region. Growing up with a farming culture, Skip was inspired to carry on his family’s traditions, bringing the same passion to farming as his father and grandfather before him.“Morada Nut is a real family business and Skip wants to ensure that the quality product is expressed in your box as well. That lends a lot of pride in the product we are processing,” explains Scott Brown, Production Manager at Morada Nut.Morada Nut is located on one of the family-owned walnut orchards and it’s one of the region’s premier growers and distributors of walnuts, with a state-of-the-art walnut in-shell plant with bleaching and scrubbing capabilities.The company handles different premium varieties such as Chandler, Howard, Tulare, and Hartley. Morada Nut has plans to increase production significantly over the coming years.“It’s all about the premium quality walnut product that we are able to grow in our own local region. We are very fortunate to benefit from a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers, mild winters, and delta breezes that make for an ideal walnut growing region. Providing superior customer service and the highest quality product to our top tier customer base is our mission at Morada Nut,” says Scott.The Foppianos are still very much involved in the day-to-day management at Morada Nut. Skip’s extensive knowledge of farming and production continues to guide the design and technological improvements of the impressive facilities.Innovation and creativity have played an important role in Morada Nut’s success. The company’s vision to integrate research and state-of-the-art technology has greatly increased customer and grower satisfaction.“We are able to satisfy the most demanding customers, requiring strict quality specs and only the highest quality walnuts to service their consumers. This has become a trade mark for Morada Nut,” explains Scott.Scott continues: “We know that laser sorting and optical sorting technologies are the way to increase efficiency and deliver the high quality product that our customers demand. We had to accommodate for our projected growth, expand into necessary markets and develop our customer base.” Morada Nut is a firm believer that it is only as strong as its partners.“We turned to TOMRA because when looking at the challenges ahead, it soon became clear that TOMRA was going to meet our high requirements, and able to achieve the quality and the high throughput in a timely manner. Their years of expertise led to us developing the best sorting solution for our needs,” clarifies Scott.Read the full article: