Since
2006
One grading table in Al Quoz.Still a grading business.
The nuts arriving in Dubai were graded once, at origin, by people who would never see who ate them. A can labelled one size held three. Ahnoud started by regrading what it bought, by hand, and selling the result under its own name.
That is still the whole business. We buy from growers we have bought from for years, grade on arrival, cure, grade again, and can the same week. Nothing is blended to make a weight.
A grade is a promise about every kernel in the can, not an average of them.
Why hands, not cameras
- Colour
An optical sorter is faster and very good at colour. We use one for that, and only that.
- Shell
Whether it splits cleanly and whether it is whole. A judgement, and a pair of hands makes it better than a lens does.
- Kernel
Whether it has filled. The only thing that decides if a pistachio is worth the price.
- Cost
Throughput. It is the reason a Royal can holds one size of kernel and nothing else, which is the one claim a customer can check for themselves.
Warehouse 12, Al Quoz
Grading, curing and canning happen in the same building. That is what lets us can within a week of grading, and orders leave from the same door.
