Walnuts

Light halves, in-shell & kernel by colour grade

Walnut kernel is graded on colour before anything else, and the colour scale is the price. Extra Light Halves (ELH) sit at the top, then Light Halves (LH), Light Amber (LA) and Amber (A), with each step down a visibly darker kernel and a materially lower number. Colour is not cosmetic vanity — it tracks oxidation of the kernel's very high polyunsaturated oil content, so a darker kernel is generally an older or worse-stored one, and it will go rancid sooner in your finished product. Within colour, the second axis is piece size: halves, quarters, large pieces, small pieces and baking pieces. CBIL arranges Chilean supply (Chandler and Serr, which set the benchmark for light colour), Californian material, Indian kernel from Kashmir and Himachal, and Ukrainian and Moldovan supply into European lanes. In-shell walnuts are a separate contract graded by shell diameter — 30 mm, 32 mm and 34 mm+ — with shell brightness, shell integrity and kernel-to-shell yield (typically 45–50%) as the variables; in-shell is what gifting, festive retail and the Middle East winter trade buy, while food manufacturers buy kernel and never touch a shell.

The decision that matters is colour against process. ELH and LH halves belong in retail packs, gifting, salad toppings, cake decoration and anywhere the kernel faces the customer. Light Amber and Amber pieces are the sensible buy for walnut oil pressing, bakery inclusions, brownies, pesto, ice cream, cereal bars and grinding, where the kernel is broken and browned by the process regardless. Buying ELH halves for a brownie is a spec error that costs real money. Because of the oil content, storage discipline is not optional: we arrange vacuum or nitrogen-flushed packing and reefer stowage on warm lanes, and specify peroxide value and free fatty acid alongside the standard panel. Every lot ships against SGS or Intertek certification of colour grade against the physical standard, moisture at ≤ 8% kernel, aflatoxin to your destination (EU 2 ppb B1 / 4 ppb total for direct consumption against roughly 15 ppb elsewhere), foreign matter, shell fragments and rancidity markers, with phytosanitary documentation. Supply is arranged in 10 kg and 22.68 kg vacuum cartons for kernel and 10 / 20 kg cartons for in-shell, container-load, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.