Sounds sexy, no?
It totally was…
Okay, maybe not. 😉
Today kicked off the touring portion of the POM Harvest Tour!
Before heading to the POM factory, I filled my belly with a tasty breakfast from the buffet. 
Yes, that would be oatmeal topped with Lucky Charms. That’s how I roll.
What is it about buffet-style scrambled eggs that are so good? They are always so fluffy and full. 
I’m not gonna lie, I ate that peanut butter straight out of the container with my finger… not that you’d expect any less from me.
A Touring We Will Go…
Once we were all sufficiently stuffed, we piled into two vans and headed toward the POM factory where we hung out for a bit, enjoying yummy snacks, including Wonderful Pistachios, POM tea and pomegranate arils.
I ate two packs of the nuts and three bowls of the pomegranate arils (seeds) over the course of the day. Guys, that’s like 6 cups of arils. They’re seriously delicious and seriously addicting. 
I must admit that I’ve never actually tried fresh pomegranate arils until today. I’ve had them in pomegranate-flavored yogurt and I’ve enjoyed pomegranate beverages, but I’ve never actually had a fresh aril before!
Man, I was missing out! They are flippin’ phenomenal. (Clearly I think so. I mean I ate 6 cups.)
Into the Factory
Once snack time was over, we embarked on a tour of the factory.
Our first stop took us to the area where the plastic bottles are formed.
It was really neat to see the bottle go from this phallic looking guy…
To this curvaceous little gem. 
The POM bottles are modeled the way they are with the curves to mimic the shape of actual pomegranates, an idea conceptualized by the founder. She’s a creative one, huh?
Fill ‘Er Up!
The tour then led us into the filling room which we were not allowed to photograph for proprietary reasons. It was really neat to see how the bottles are sterilized and filled.
Each day the factory fills a different POM product. Today they were filling a peach tea that smelled fantastic. 
Several of the other bloggers and I commented that POM Wonderful should sell a bodywash or perfume or something because the scent in the factory was so wonderful. (<—Like my pun? Pom Wonderful… 😉 I’m a goober and I love puns. 10 points to anyone who leaves a pun in the comments section of this post! )
I thought it was really cool to learn that the whole process from shaping the bottle to filling it with the juice only takes about 15 minutes. These people are speed demons.
No Fruit Left Behind
As we were walking outside to explore another part of the factory, we saw remains of the pomegranate fruits being loaded into trucks. The peels and leftover fruit will then be used to feed cattle!
I grew up in a “no food wasted” family, so I appreciated the fact that POM uses every last bit of their fruit. I bet my dad would, too. 😉
Our group then took a quick breather before heading out for the last portion of the tour.
We learned a lot about whole pomegranates and the process involved in determining which pomegranates will make it onto supermarket shelves.
One thing I found particularly interesting was that you really cannot judge a pomegranate on its color alone. A light pink, faded looking pomegranate (like the one pictured below) will typically yield arils that are just as delicious as those from a gorgeous, ruby red pomegranate. 
I guess pomegranates are like people… they can’t be judged on the outside alone. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. 😀
The inside of the final factory we toured was really impressive. Each pomegranate is photographed nearly 25 times to check for coloration, scarring and other factors before determining if it’s suitable for sale as a whole fruit, or should be made into juice. 
Once our tour of the factory concluded, we were shown how to cut into a pomegranate and scoop out the tasty arils.
I want to try it for myself! I may even post a tutorial on the ol’ blog because the whole concept was pretty foreign to me and I’m assuming one of you out there might want to learn how to enjoy the fruits of your labor. (Again with the puns… :D)
Once the tour was officially over, we headed back to our hotel for a delicious late lunch. I really wasn’t that hungry (I blame the fibrous arils and two pistachio packages), but I still managed to down a whole marinated veggie sandwich.
We’re heading to dinner in an hour and I am seriously stuffed. I hope I can pack in more food though because the menu for this evening sounds ah-maze-ing!
Hope you’re all enjoying your FRIDAY night! 😀 See ya in a bit.
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Wow, I feel like I was there… oh yeah, I was there!! Love how quickly you posted and your take on the day! You left out the grapes! 😉
they’re to come! 🙂 so much to fit in!
What grapes?
Looks like an amazing day of eats! Glad you’re having a good time:)
Wow! I cannot believe you have never had the seeds before! The first time I had them was last year and then I showed my parents and they loooovvvveeedd them. My favorite pom yogurt is chobani pomegranate because it has the seeds on the bottom…..yuuuummmmmmm
I never tried fresh pomegranate (mostly because I don’t know how to cut it so a tutorial would be great ;)!)
But I love POM’s pomegranate juice!
YUMMMY!
I can’t believe you had never eaten the arils before! I actually grew up going to farmers market and eating pomegranates and drinking this delicious pomegranate-apple juice!
I am fine you finally got to taste fresh pomegranate!
Your day makes want to shake my pom poms. Har har har 😉
Oh wow – is this the tour Katie (Chocolate- Covered) had mentioned before on her blog but couldn’t do because of school!
Sounds awesome! Congrats for going. LOL – tours, trips, whatever just end up being one total smorgabord…it’s nuts…I never feel hungry – but can’t stop the eating…
I can’t believe you missed out on pomegranates all this time. Leslie always loved them! She would beg for them at the grocery store. Welcome to the club of pomegranate lovers! I’m so glad you are having a good trip. See you soon! xo
Except cows’s stomachs are made only for digesting grass and feeding them other things (like corn, soybeans and fruit and veggie refuse) actually makes them super sick and would kill them- except we pump them full of hormones and antibiotics to keep them alive until slaughter. : (
Not that I’m a crazy PETA person or anything, it just makes me sad to see things like that. It’s akin to feeding your dog chocolate because you have some left over.
Interesting comment, Julie… no fruit? We finish our cattle with barley in Canada. I know grass fed are best, but thought that fruit would be OK. I will definitely research that because it is important.
Thank you,
Valerie
Yeah, cows are actually kinda cool because they don’t exactly “eat” grass, they chew it up enough to get it into their first stomach where microbes break it down further. The cow then chews it up again and is able to get the nutrients that it would otherwise not be able to get from just the grass/hay itself AND it ends up eating some of the microbes in the process, which become the cow’s source of protein. I forget exactly why, but eating other things cause too much gas to be produced by the cow and it puts pressure on their lungs and suffocates them.
Michael Pollan writes far more eloquently and elaborately than I ever could on the subject, if you are interested. : )
Fluffy eggs usually have baking powder in them.
ooh! interesting!
That is interesting. I never heard of baking powder, but my mom always uses a little flour to get them fluffy.
Have you ever tried microwaving scrambled eggs? I found that is the only way they ever turn out fluffy for me.
I do 1/2 cup egg beaters and 1/3 teaspoon baking powder to make an omelette. If you use real eggs, that’s two eggs worth. It’s also neat to try in quiche.
Hey Julie!
I just met your fiance, Ryan, last night at Dru’s bday dinner! We heard all about your blogging adventures–that’s so great!
Hope to meet you soon!
🙂
I love buffet scrambled eggs! 😀 OH my gosh, childhood flashback – LUCKY CHARMS!! Yess! I love it. Today looks so amazing – I’m glad you had such a good time, and you should totally sport that look at your wedding 😉 hair net and all!
😀 Meg
1. I cannot believe you have never eaten a fresh pomegranate before (and so thrilled you have, and love them, now!
2. How many pomegranates would 6 cups be (the amount you ate today)
3. who is the founder of the company?
4. Why are they called arils instead of seeds?
5. Is your hand really small, or is that a giant pomegranate?
6. YOU ARE AH-MAZE-ING to get this post up and still get ready for dinner after such a BUSY day.
BIG HUG!
Valerie
1. so tasty!
2. we were told that each container (of which i ate three) would probably be filled with the equivalent of 1 VERY large pomegranate.,. so, to answer your question, three VERY large pomegranates.
3. Lynda Resnick is the founder (she is also the head of FIji Water)
4. the aril is actually the juicy part surrounding the seed
5. that was a ginormous pomegranate!
6. it’s been a go-go-go kind of day!
PS: I cannot believe you are lucky charms for breakfast.
The arils are definitely addictive! I love the arils and would eat so many more, except they are a pain in the bootie to get out! I would love to see a tutorial. Especially if it’s an easier way to get them out!
Sounds like so much fun!!!!! How lucky you are!
wow, nope, u definitely pulled off the look and managed to make ur get-up look sexy! good job!! ur also making the fruit looks so much more beautiful <3
Love how the hard hat sort of matches with your shirt and the straps of your bag. lol
I was just about to comment the same thing. Matchy matchy!
matchy matchy! you know how i roll!
Love the hair net 😉
So glad it’s been a great trip for you 🙂 I just caught up on all your posts. Would have loved to meet you but there will be other times no doubt!
Enjoy the last morning and safe travels back home!
My hubby loves Poms.
Looks like you had a great time! I, too, love that they use the peels and leftover fruit to feed cattle. 🙂 And thanks for showing us how to properly cut the pom to get out the arils. 🙂
I would love to see that tutorial!
Thanks for your tip yesterday on the pomegranate e-gram. I sent one to my husband and he thought it was spam and then asked if we really were getting a fruit in the mail. I am excited for it to arrive! I’ve never eaten the arils either and your tutorial will help me properly cut the fruit open when we get one!
Hope you are having fun on the tour! I want them to pick me for next year!
This sounds like such a cool tour! I love learning about how things are made or how things work. This whole is adventure is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing it all with us! 🙂
This looks like so much fun! I’d love to see a tutorial on cutting a pomegranate! I love them but have no idea how to do it properly 🙂