Almond Cooperative Plans Huge Expansion With Third Facility
October 4, 2011 In a sign of the times for the booming almond industry in general and Blue Diamond Growers in particular, the cooperative’s Board of Directors has approved a plan to purchase 88 acres located in Turlock, CA. The capacity expansion plan includes ongoing operations at its plants in Sacramento and Salida (adjacent to Modesto), with upgrades planned at both facilities.
The phased project is designed to minimize initial construction costs and to build Blue Diamond’s growing consumer brand and ingredient business at a significant compounded return to the grower-owners of the cooperative over the next 15 years and beyond. This investment is focused on new automated technologies that will increase yields and reduce handling to provide additional cost savings at all locations.
“The unprecedented growth in our Blue Diamond consumer brand and ingredient business requires us to expand our capacity beyond our Sacramento and Salida operations,” says Blue Diamond President and CEO, Mark Jansen. “The California almond crop has doubled over the last decade. Global demand continues to climb: 2010 crop shipments exceeded previous shipments by 14% for a five-year annual growth rate of 13%. This plan will provide the capacity we need to grow as global markets expand and U.S. consumers demand more nutritional almond products.”
As part of a 15-year capacity expansion strategy, the Turlock location is required to meet the company’s increasing global market opportunities and crop supply. Insufficient land was available in Sacramento and Salida to add the required manufacturing capacity to either existing location. The three-phased project is expected to provide training and other new opportunities for current employees in Sacramento, Salida and, eventually, at the new facility at North Washington and Fulkerth Road in Turlock.
“After an exhaustive site selection process, we chose Turlock because not only is it an ideal location for our long-term expansion plans, but the Turlock City Council demonstrated great leadership by dedicating the resources necessary to provide the required infrastructure,” explains Jansen. “They also expedited entitlement processes necessary to meet or exceed our operations timeline. Turlock is exactly the pro-business partner we need to meet the difficult regulatory challenges in California.”
This is an exciting moment for the city of Turlock, says Mayor John Lazar. “This is the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship between Blue Diamond and our city that will benefit our citizens and the region as a business community,” he says. “We are pleased to welcome Blue Diamond to our community as our newest corporate citizen.”
Blue Diamond Growers is the world’s largest almond marketer and processor. While the U.S. market is the largest single market for almonds, over 70% of them are exported to 95 countries worldwide. Almonds are California’s largest food export and they rank among the top 10 food exports in America. California produces over 80% of the world’s supply.
Source: PR Newswire
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