Blue Diamond reports $1.59 billion in revenue. Almond milk from Turlock is a hit
Blue Diamond Growers had $1.59 billion in revenue in its latest annual report, boosted in part by the new almond milk operation in Turlock.
The Sacramento-based cooperative saw a 1.5% increase in the fiscal year ending Aug. 28 over the previous year. It was announced during a Nov. 23-24 online event that replaced the usual luncheon at Modesto Center Plaza.
Blue Diamond employs about 1,800 people at plants in Sacramento, Salida and Turlock, up about 100 from a year ago. It is the biggest player in a California almond industry that accounts for about 80 percent of the global supply.
This was the 110th annual meeting for the company, launched in Sacramento in 1910. Plants followed in Salida in 1968 and Turlock in 2013.
The Washington Road plant in June added Almond Breeze milk to its slicing, dicing, blanching and almond flour production. Before that, the Sacramento plant made all of this dairy substitute.
President and CEO Mark Jansen said retailers are now selling about $800 million worth of the milk a year. The figure includes markups by grocers.
“Your most profitable almonds are those we process into Almond Breeze,” Jansen told grower-members.
The plants make a milk concentrate with nuts, flavoring and a few other ingredients. Blue Diamond contracts with other companies around the world to add water and packaging.
Salida plant gets upgrades, too
The Salida plant long did just basic processing of bulk almonds bound for food makers around the world and the Turlock and Sacramento plants. Last year, the Sisk Road site added dry-roasting and flour production. This past spring, it expanded warehouse space for incoming nuts by 20 percent.
The Sacramento plant does all of the snack nuts under the Blue Diamond brand, along with Nut-Thins crackers for people avoiding gluten. What’s new in 2020? Spicy Dill Pickle flavored nuts, for one. And the company launched almond protein powder.
Blue Diamond ends its fiscal years in late August to roughly coincide with the start of the next harvest. The annual reports cover the upcoming crop and sales well into the next calendar year.
Challenges with pandemic, tariffs and more
The cooperative is owned by about 3,000 growers in the Central Valley. The almonds are shipped to about 90 countries and end up in cereal, candy, energy bars, ice cream and many other items.
Jansen noted challenges during the past fiscal year, including tariffs that affected sales to India and China. The pandemic cut snack nut consumption by about a quarter, making bulk almonds and milk all the more important.
Another challenge lies with the record harvest of about 3 billion pounds for all California growers this year, which wrapped up in mid-autumn, board Chairman Dan Cummings of Chico said.
This has depressed prices paid to growers for now, he said, but efficient processing and innovative products will help in the long term.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
