PRESIDENT’S CORNER
6
Almond Facts
MARCH | APRIL 2017
President’s Corner
Mark Jansen
President and CEO
Overcoming Adversity Through
Commitment and Innovation
History has shown the resilience of our growers, our trees, and the almond itself. Orchards have
endured periods of drought and disease and very recently found themselves literally under water.
California weather has always been unpredictable. The recent heavy rainfall presented a new set of
challenges. The wet conditions kept many growers out of their orchards, high winds wreaked havoc on
trees, and the unwillingness of bees to brave the elements caused concern for pollination. But, despite
the stormy weather, bloom progressed. It is far too early to develop any estimate for the 2017 crop.
Although strengthening, market prices indicate reduced expectations for a barn buster crop. We pray
that almonds will continue to be as resilient as the California farmers that grow them.
The great strength of a cooperative is the organization’s
ability to insulate against crop and market adversity.
Our innovative marketing continues to build consumer
affection for our brands. For the first time, we ran a TV
spot during the Annual GRAMMY Awards sharing
our snack nut brand’s ability to bring people together
and inspire the country and the world “to love one
another right now”. It illustrated the powerful ability
of
Blue Diamond
snack almonds to be shared with
loved ones, friends, and strangers alike. It achieved
our goal to expand our connection with a younger
female demographic, a key consumer of
Blue Diamond’s
products. The GRAMMY Awards fit a unique category
of television, whereby consumers make time to watch it
“live” so they can share the experience immediately with
others through digital media or the next day around the
watercooler at work.
Blue Diamond Growers
take their passion, commitment
and generations of experience, and produce the highest
quality product upon harvest. So, it made sense for our
Almond Breeze
marketing team to capitalize on this unique
advantage. By now, I hope you have seen the new
Almond
Breeze
commercial,
The Best Almonds Make the Best Almond
milk
. Recently, at the annual meeting luncheon the
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives honored
Blue
Diamond’s
commercial its highest award in the “Best of
NCFC Chairman and CEO of Land O’Lakes, Chris Policinski, presents
Blue Diamond
Award.
