Despite a recent fire event, Australian almond company Select Harvests' Carina West processing facility will be fully operational for the commencement of 2022 season.
Planned upgrades to its Parboil value-adding facility have also been completed, allowing the company to increase throughput and expand its range of value-added products.
Recent rains and storms in the Riverland and Mallee growing regions have had no adverse impact on the quantity or quality of the 2022 crop, with harvest set to begin in mid-February.
“Select Harvests’ 2022 crop is progressing well and is expected to be in line with expectations for quality and sizing,” said Paul Thompson, managing director of Select Harvests.
“Our staff, contractors and suppliers have done a great job to ensure our processing facility will be fully operational for the commencement of harvest following the fire event last month.”
Following the strengthening of global almond prices in the second half of 2021, Thompson said pricing has recently returned back to similar levels as those reported last year.
“While global almond pricing has reduced in recent months, Select remains in a strong position given its lower quartile cost of production and investments in processing and value add technology,” Thompson explained. “The macro for almonds remains strong and we expect pricing to improve in the short- to medium-term.”
