After leaving MANA Nutrition, tour attendees hopped on I-75 and headed south to Tifton Quality Peanuts in Tifton, Georgia. Tifton Quality Peanuts began its shelling operation in 2005 and has been running strong ever since. The company is a grower-owned shelling facility. One of the highlights of the tour was the very large domes where the peanuts are stored. Each of the three domes can hold up to approximately 13,000 tons of peanuts. Between the domes and additional warehouses, the facility can store up to 70,000 tons on site.
Attendees walked through the entire shelling process. It begins with peanuts being moved out of storage and into the plant, where they pass through a series of machines. First, the peanuts go through cleaning equipment to remove dirt, rocks, and other foreign materials. From there, they enter a rotating machine that breaks open the hulls, allowing the kernels to separate. The peanuts then move on to a color sorter, which detects defects in each kernel. Defective peanuts are identified by specific colors and separated from the high-quality kernels. Next, the kernels are sized before being packed into large totes and placed in cold storage.
So where do the peanuts go once they are shelled? Companies like Mars Snackfoods, Hershey, and Tom’s Snacks purchase them to use in some of your favorite treats!