In a shift to align the company’s workforces around the world and support the global enterprise, Rich Products Corporation has implemented a new governance and organizational structure. As a result, Rich names veterans Ray Burke and Jack Kilgore to co-lead the newly formed U.S./Canada Region.

Burke, president of Rich’s foodservice and in-store bakery divisions, will continue to lead these businesses, while also assuming oversight of Rich’s ingredients division. Kilgore, president of the consumer brands division, will oversee the Canada division and continue to account for consumer brands and the company’s global quality function.

The founder of the non-dairy segment of the frozen-food industry, Rich’s is the world leader in non-dairy toppings, icings and other emulsions and sells more than 2,000 products in 100 countries.

Separately, Blue Diamond Growers, a cooperative owned by more than half of California’s almond growers, is officially launching the first phase of a new manufacturing plant in Turlock, Calif., an 88-acre property located at N. Washington and Fulkerth Roads.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in May 2013. It will provide about 200,000 sq. ft. of building space for manufacturing and delivering new almond products worldwide. The three-phased project will eventually yield a total of about 500,000 sq. ft. of building space in the next 15 years.

“There’s no doubt that Blue Diamond will bring numerous benefits to the Turlock community, including jobs,” says Mark Jansen, Blue Diamond president/CEO. “The number of jobs will not be known until we have made our investment decisions about new technologies. We will announce job openings in fall 2012.”

Says Jansen, “We have kept pace with upgrading new technologies in our plant operations over the last 44 years, but today we are celebrating the largest single investment in the 102 years of the almond industry’s existence. In fact, this year we will also complete a state of the art research and development complex at our headquarters in Sacramento.”