SSR, Fancy, Extra No. 1: how to read a California almond grade
Size tells you how big the kernel is. Grade tells you how many imperfect ones you have agreed to accept. They are separate numbers on the same quotation, and confusing them is the most common and most expensive mistake a new almond buyer makes.
Last verified: 20 September 2026
Seven grades, one standard
Every legitimate California almond quotation refers back to one document: the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Almonds, effective 24 March 1997. It defines seven grades:
- U.S. Fancy (§51.2105)
- U.S. Extra No. 1 (§51.2106)
- U.S. No. 1 (§51.2107) — often written "U.S. No. 1 Supreme" in trade literature
- U.S. Select Sheller Run (§51.2108) — universally shortened to SSR
- U.S. Standard Sheller Run (§51.2109) — SR
- U.S. No. 1 Whole and Broken (§51.2110)
- U.S. No. 1 Pieces (§51.2111)
The first five are whole-kernel grades and differ only in how much of each defect they tolerate. The last two are not really "lower" grades of whole almonds at all — they are different products, sold for different uses, and priced on a different basis.
The tolerance table, verbatim
All tolerances are by weight. The row that matters most for appearance is chip and scratch; the row that matters most for a blanching or slicing line is doubles.
| Defect | Fancy | Extra No. 1 | No. 1 | Select Sheller Run | Standard Sheller Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissimilar varieties (max 1% bitter) | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Doubles | 3% | 5% | 15% | 15% | 25% |
| Chipped and/or scratched | 5% (injury) | 5% (damage) | 10% (damage) | 20% (damage) | 35% combined with split & broken |
| Split and broken | within 2% other defects, max 1% | within 4% other defects, max 1% | within 5% other defects, max 1% | 5% (max 2% passing a 20/64 in. / 7.9 mm screen) | max 15% of the 35% (max 5% passing 20/64 in.) |
| Foreign material (no glass or metal allowed in any grade) | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.10% | 0.20% |
| Particles and dust | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% |
| Other defects (total) | 2% | 4% | 5% | 3% | 3% |
| Serious damage (within "other defects") | 1% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 2% | 2% |
Two things in that table are counter-intuitive and worth pausing on.
SSR is tighter on serious damage than it looks. Select Sheller Run allows a generous 20 percent chip and scratch, but its "other defects" ceiling is 3 percent, lower than U.S. No. 1's 5 percent. SSR is a grade that tolerates cosmetic damage and does not tolerate much of anything else. That is exactly why it is the default bulk export grade: the buyer is paying for sound, edible, well-dried kernels and is not paying for a perfect surface.
Fancy and Extra No. 1 allow the same 5 percent chip and scratch — but not the same chip and scratch. Fancy measures it as injury; Extra No. 1 measures it as damage. Those are two different thresholds in the standard, and the difference is the whole distinction between the two grades.
Injury versus damage — the definition that separates Fancy from Extra No. 1
Section 51.2127 defines injury as "any defect which more than slightly detracts from the appearance of the individual almond," and specifies that a chipped or scratched kernel counts as injured when the affected area "aggregates more than the equivalent of a circle one-eighth inch (3.2 mm) in diameter."
Section 51.2128 defines damage as any defect "which materially detracts from the appearance of the individual kernel, or the edible or shipping quality," and sets the chip-and-scratch threshold at "more than the equivalent of a circle one-quarter inch (6.4 mm) in diameter."
So both grades allow 5 percent — but Fancy counts marks from 3.2 mm upward, while Extra No. 1 only starts counting at 6.4 mm. A Fancy lot therefore has substantially fewer visible marks than an Extra No. 1 lot with an identical number on the certificate. If you are buying almonds that will be seen whole by a consumer, this is the sentence in this article worth remembering.
What the other defect names actually mean
| Term | Definition in the standard | Why a buyer cares |
|---|---|---|
| Doubles (§51.2124) | "Kernels that developed in shells containing two kernels. One side of a double kernel is flat or concave." | Flat-sided kernels do not blanch, slice or sliver evenly, and they look wrong in a clear retail pack. Harmless to eat. |
| Split or broken (§51.2125) | "Seven-eighths or less of complete whole kernels but which will not pass through a round opening 8/64 of an inch (3.2 mm)." | Yield loss if you are selling whole kernels; irrelevant if you are grinding. |
| Foreign material (§51.2123) | Shell, hulls or other matter that will not pass a 3.2 mm round opening. No part of any grade's allowance may be glass or metal. | The one tolerance with a hard zero inside it. Any glass or metal is out of grade in every grade. |
| Particles and dust (§51.2126) | Fragments that will pass a 3.2 mm opening. | Fines. Matters for dust control and for net weight on fine-count lots. |
| Serious damage (§51.2129) | "Any defect which makes a kernel or piece of kernel unsuitable for human consumption, and includes decay, rancidity, insect injury and damage by mold." | The food-safety row. This is the number to look at first on a certificate of analysis, before appearance. |
| Whole (§51.2117) | "Less than one-eighth of the kernel chipped off or missing," with the general contour not materially affected. | Defines what counts as a whole kernel when counting size and calculating yield. |
| Well dried (§51.2119) | "The kernel is firm and brittle, and not pliable or leathery." | A leathery almond is a moisture problem, and a moisture problem in a sealed container on a long ocean leg is a mould problem on arrival. |
The two grades that are not whole-kernel grades
U.S. No. 1 Whole and Broken (§51.2110) requires that "not less than 30 percent, by weight, of the kernels shall be whole," with doubles excluded from the whole-kernel count, and sets a default minimum diameter of 20/64 inch (7.9 mm). It allows 35 percent doubles. This is a processing grade — perfectly sound almonds sold without a promise about how many arrive intact.
U.S. No. 1 Pieces (§51.2111) drops the whole-kernel requirement entirely and sets a default minimum diameter of 8/64 inch (3.2 mm). It permits 1 percent particles and dust, against 0.10 percent everywhere else. Pieces are bought by the kilogram of almond solids, not by appearance.
Neither is a downgrade of a whole-kernel lot. Asking for "SSR or pieces, whichever is cheaper" tells an exporter you have not decided what you are making.
Which grade to specify
| What you are making | Grade to ask for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Whole almonds in a clear retail pack; gift and premium packs | U.S. Fancy, or Extra No. 1 if the pack is opaque | The 3.2 mm injury threshold is what keeps visible marks out of a window bag. |
| Roasted and salted or flavored retail snack packs | U.S. Extra No. 1 or U.S. No. 1 | Roasting and seasoning hide surface marks. Paying for Fancy here is paying for a dimension the consumer cannot see. |
| Bulk trade, repacking, general distribution | U.S. Select Sheller Run | The default bulk export grade: tight on serious damage, relaxed on cosmetics. Most widely available, so most competitively priced. |
| Blanching, slicing, slivering, dicing | SSR, with a tightened doubles clause | SSR's 15 percent doubles ceiling is high for a line that needs even kernels. Negotiate doubles down separately rather than buying up a grade. |
| Panned confectionery, chocolate-coated almonds | Fancy or Extra No. 1, and specify the variety and size too | Coating amplifies shape irregularity. Uniformity matters more than surface here. |
| Paste, marzipan, butters, almond drinks, bakery inclusions | Whole and Broken or Pieces | You are buying almond solids. Appearance grades are wasted money. |
The left and middle columns are ordinary trade practice, not part of the USDA standard. The standard defines what each grade permits; it does not tell anybody which grade to buy.
Four questions that turn a grade into a contract
- "Which grade, and what is the doubles ceiling?" Grade and doubles can be negotiated separately. A buyer who names a tighter doubles figure inside SSR often gets a better price than one who jumps to Extra No. 1.
- "Is the chip and scratch measured as injury or as damage?" If the supplier does not know the difference, you have learned something useful.
- "Will the certificate of analysis for this lot show the serious damage figure?" Serious damage is the food-safety line in the grade. It should be on the paperwork, not assumed.
- "Who inspects, and to which standard?" A grade claim backed by a third-party inspection certificate is worth more than a grade claim in a sales confirmation.
One more thing: tolerances apply to the lot, not the carton
Section 51.2115 says the tolerances "are to be applied to the entire lot, and a composite sample shall be taken for determining the grade." But it adds a protection buyers forget they have: "any container or group of containers in which the almonds are found to be materially inferior to those in the majority of the containers shall be considered a separate lot." One bad pallet in a container does not get averaged away against twenty good ones.
Sources
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, United States Standards for Grades of Shelled Almonds, effective 24 March 1997 — §§51.2105–51.2131. All tolerances and definitions quoted above are taken from this document. ams.usda.gov
- USDA AMS, Shelled Almonds Grades and Standards landing page. ams.usda.gov/node/820
More from this series
Name the grade. We will quote it.
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