A Newman legacy for three generations: Take an inside look at family-run almond business

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Is it pronounced Almond or Amond? Is it a fruit or a nut? Unsalted or seasoned? There are so many questions when it comes to California’s beloved snack, the almond. What isn’t in question is one family’s commitment to providing quality products with an enduring legacy.

This is the foundation of Stewart & Jasper Orchards in Newman. It was started in 1948 by Lee Jasper and Romain Stewart, though the early days were focused on poultry farming.

By 1957, they transitioned into almonds planting their first 100 acres. Today, Stewart & Jasper have grown to over 2000 acres and produce 50 million pounds of almonds every year.

“It’s expanded a lot since 1948, starting the poultry business as well as buying our first home orchards in the early 50s,” said vice president and 3rd generation farmer Jason Jasper, “We’ve grown with the industry. We’re hulling, shelling, processing, marketing, and adding value to almonds through our retail department.”

They call this vertical integration, or more simply, farm to fork. In this case farm to handful.

“Being as vertically integrated as we are, we have control of the product all the way from the farm out here to the product being delivered to the customer, wherever they are in the world,” says Jason Jasper.

It starts in the orchard, during harvest custom shakers separate the almonds, which are considered a type of dry fruit, not a nut, from the tree row by row and they are left on the ground to dry to an optimal moisture level.

Stewart & Jasper even produces a small supply of green almonds for innovative chefs and curious consumers. Considered a delicacy, the almond at this early stage is full of moisture and similar to a cucumber in texture and taste and can be eaten as is or brined and rolled in salt.

“It’s really labor intensive to go out there and pick them,” said Jason Jasper. “There’s a lot of people that like them, we harvest probably a couple 1000 pounds a year.”

Once the almonds dry out enough, they go from the field to processing in large open-top trucks. The first stop is the pre-cleaner, separating foreign objects like sticks and rocks from the almonds.

After that, they are moved into the huller. This machine separates the almonds in the shell from the hull. Hulls are rich in protein so they are not discarded, instead they are sold as livestock feed.

From here they go through a set of specialized rollers that remove the almond from the shell with little damage or scratching. This is important because some markets, like Korea and Japan, require a nearly flawless nut, consistent in size, color, and quality. This shelling step is the first of several sorting steps to produce the perfect almond.

Next is the sizer; this machine further removes any additional foreign objects or broken almonds and moves the almonds through a series of shaking screens to sort the almonds into different sizes.

Production manager Rick Marcoux explains that almonds are sold on a count per ounce basis so they need to be sized to get the correct and consistent amount per bag or box. This is similar to how shrimp is sized per pound bag.

Throughout this process, almonds are sampled for quality control. This essential step helps Stewart & Jasper maintain quality by weeding out defects and signaling issues with crops. This data is used for forecasting inventory and reporting to the United States Department of Agriculture.

The almonds will then pass through three laser and optical readers to further remove defects, including breakage, brown spots, holes, and even double almonds when 2 almonds are produced in one shell. The final stage sees the almonds hand-sorted by workers before they are steam-sanitized and ready to ship and sell.

And sell they do; locally and all around the world.

“We export to dozens of countries, but for us, the primary markets would be Japan, Korea, Canada, and Turkey, as well as many countries in the EU, such as Germany, France, and the UK,” said marketing director Zach Williams.

Stewart & Jasper has created flavored almonds including chili cheese, Asiago cheese, and even ghost pepper and a variety of cinnamon-glazed and chocolate-covered varieties.

They also make almond butter and flavored popcorn and create private-label products for several well-known national stores and chains used in gift baskets, trail mixes and other products.

In 2016, Stewart & Jasper acquired a local specialty foods company that previously worked with almond growers to produce flavored nuts and confections and renamed it Jasper Specialty Foods.

By folding this operation in-house, Stewart & Jasper has been innovative in creating unique flavors and candy and has used this label to jumpstart the next generation of the Jasper Family legacy with Jake’s Nut Roasters. Named after Jason Jasper’s son, Jake, this line was developed with Jake to bring savory offerings like blue cheese cracked pepper, bloody Mary, and brine and dill for pickle lovers.

“Soon after starting Jake’s, my daughter asked if there would be a product named for her,” said Jason Jasper, “so we created the Jaidyn’s label producing apricot wine and an apricot balsamic vinegar.”

President Jim Jasper said a commitment to family and relationships is what makes Stewart & Jasper special and successful.

“The principles of running our business haven’t changed in over 76 years. These people here are the ones that make this business. I just sit back and admire what they do.” says Jim Jasper.

Jasper highlights employees who have been there for 20, 30 years, and longer and recognizes that when employees are happy the business thrives. During harvest, Stewart & Jasper can employ around 175 people and the number reduces to about 100 or less after harvest.

Stewart & Jasper products can be found in Raley’s and and O’Brien’s Market grocery stores and at select retailers like Hobby Lobby and Amazon. For the most variety, and to sample, visit their company stores in Patterson, Newman, and Modesto in McHenry Village and on their website at https://shop.stewartandjasper.com/ and https://store.jasperspecialtyfoods.com/ .

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