If You Believe It, You Can Achieve It

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.

Abraham Lincoln

I continue to be impressed by the perseverance of farmers. Global trade wars, government bureaucracy and especially weather make resilience a defining attribute of every successful farm. This will be my tenth year of experience with the almond crop and I am still waiting for a good weather season. Years of historic drought followed by blooms where university research would suggest limited chances for pollination.

This year, there were numerous challenges during bloom with cold and rainy weather, but there were some reasons for optimism. The cooler weather gave bees more time to pollinate blossoms, an overlap between varieties allowed for plenty of pollen and when bees were able to work they had plenty of open flowers on all varieties to forage. Blue Diamond is wishing our grower-owners have a bountiful crop in the 2019 season.

While it is too early to determine the size of the coming crop, we anticipate larger supplies of almonds in the coming years. And, Blue Diamond has been preparing for them by delivering on innovations at our processing facilities, creating new products, and developing global partnerships.

Our growing investments in manufacturing innovations strengthen our commitment to you. Blue Diamond’s groundbreaking for the Phase II expansion of the Turlock facility will significantly increase our manufacturing capacity and support the success of Almond Breeze® growth with an integrated beverage line. We are also building extra room for an additional product line dedicated to future almond product innovations.

The launch of Almonds & Fruit expands our branded snack nut line of Blue Diamond Crafted Gourmet Almonds. This new product is a perfect example of your cooperative winning over consumers with a snack that is uncompromising in quality and taste. And, thanks to our strong business partnerships, we are also winning with consumers on a global scale. By establishing a partnership with Grupo LALA, a leader in the Mexican market, Blue Diamond is able to grow Almond Breeze® in Latin America — one of the most relevant for the cooperative’s growth. We are also leveraging the successful partnership with Thailand’s Heritage Group to increase Almond Breeze® sales and continue building the Blue Diamond brand in the Thai market.

As you can see, the cooperative is being well-served by an experienced team. Success is something they work towards every day, applying all their resources to help maintain trust in the Blue Diamond brand. Our achievements over the last three months have been significant. I am confident it is because of a shared dedication to our mission, vision, and values that we remain steadfast in staying a leader in the industry.

I believe in the long-term success of Blue Diamond and farmers supported by the strength of this cooperative. Together, the Best is Yet to Come.