Modesto-based Almond Board of California has new CEO. She helped lead Starbucks and winery
Napa Valley winery executive Clarice Turner will be the next leader of the Almond Board of California.
The Modesto-based board announced Tuesday that she will succeed the retiring Richard Waycott as president and CEO.
Turner has been president of Joseph Phelps Vineyards since 2018. She had earlier leadership roles with Starbucks Coffee, Papa Murphy’s International, Boudin Bakery, PepsiCo and Yum! Brands.
The Almond Board supports the state’s third-highest-grossing farm product with export promotion and research on growing practices and consumer trends.
“Clarice brings extensive knowledge and experience that we believe will be a great benefit to the organization and the industry, ” said Chairwoman Alexi Rodriguez, a grower and processor in Fresno County, in a news release.
Turner will join the board in September. Waycott has led it since 2002 and will help with the transition through December.
Schooled in San Francisco and China
Turner, a ninth-generation Californian, earned a bachelor’s degree in geology and a master’s in international business at San Francisco State University. She also attended Fudan University in Shanghai, where she studied business and the Mandarin language.
Joseph Phelps Vineyards was founded by its namesake in 1973 in the St. Helena portion of the premium wine region. It is still family-owned.
Turner was CEO at Boudin, a sandwich chain inspired by a San Francisco sourdough brand dating to 1849. She was president and chief operating officer at Papa Murphy’s, a take-and-bake pizza chain based in Vancouver, Wash.
Turner led the food, wine and ready-to-drink lines at Starbucks, headquartered in Seattle. She held several executive positions at Yum! Brands, based in Louisville, Kentucky. It owns KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Habit Burger Grill.
Turner also had executive roles at PepsiCo, a snack and beverage maker based in Purchase, N.Y. Its operations include a Frito-Lay chip plant in Modesto.
Third in California behind milk and grapes
California grows about 80% of the world’s almonds. They brought about $5.03 billion in gross income in 2021, according to the latest report from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Milk was first, grapes second.
Almond growers have struggled with low prices in recent years. The problem began with the bumper crop of 2020 and was compounded by tariffs and pandemic-related shipping backlogs.
The board dates to 1950 and is funded by assessments on growers. In recent decades, it has sponsored research that found almonds to be healthy sources of fat and protein. It also has worked on behalf of pollinating bees and on capturing carbon in the fight against climate change.
“I am honored to lead the Almond Board of California,” Turner said in the release. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to combine my California heritage, roots in generational farming and executive experience to build on the strong foundation established in 1950.”
