Blue Diamond Growers see record almond sales, revenue
Blue Diamond Growers says its global almond sales soared to $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2012-13, up $189 million from the previous fiscal year. Value-added sales volume increased by 14%, even with a crop that was 7% smaller, according to president and CEO Mark Jansen, who addressed the cooperative’s grower owners at their 103rd annual meeting in November. Value-added sales now represent more than 60% of the co-op’s revenue, including manufactured ingredients and consumer retail products.
“We accelerated our transformation into a global branded food manufacturing company, while making significant investments to ensure continued profitable growth,” says Jansen. “In April we opened our Almond Innovation Center on our Sacramento, [Calif.], campus followed by the June grand opening of our Turlock plant, the largest single investment in the history of the California almond industry. We will lead the world tree nut industry in almond product innovation and double our capacity with cutting-edge plant technology designed for producing the highest quality almond products in the world.”