PINE CONES HARVESTING PROCESS

The harvesting of pine cones in pine forests (Pinus pinea) begins in November and ends in April. During this period, pine cones are collected from different pine forests distributed mainly in Castile and Leon, Andalusia, Extremadura, the Community of Madrid, Catalonia and Portugal.

The harvesting is done manually or mechanically, always respecting the tree so that it continues to bear fruit in the following campaigns.

The pine cones are stored under a roof in open warehouses to protect them from the rain, but allowing the air to favour the ripening of the pine cone and pine nuts.

In July, the pine cones are spread out so that the sun can heat them. The hot days in Castile with temperatures reaching an average of 33º, cause the pine cone to open and release the precious pine nuts. These pine cones are transported to the shelling plant. The pine cone is broken and through screening and aeration processes the pine nut with the shell is separated from the rest of the pine cone.

In the pine cone shelling process, the pine nut with the shell and the pine cone shell are obtained.

The pine cone shell is sifted to separate impurities and obtain a biomass that is uniform in size and with high calorific value. The result of this process is the pine cone shell, which together with the pine nut shell forms the first large family of our products, natural biomass.

The pine nut with the shell is stored until the moment when, due to the demand of our clients, it is necessary to extract the white pine nut. The storage of the pine nut in its own natural wrapper (the pine nut shell), which means that it maintains all its organoleptic and taste properties over time.

Based on our customers' demand, the pine nut shelling process begins. In this process, the pine nut is opened and the shell is separated from the white pine nut. This process is carried out with modern machines that maintain food safety and cleanliness controls.