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Almond Facts
MAY | JUNE 2015
Blue Diamond Growers
broke ground on a new almond-
receiving warehouse at its Salida facility this spring,
expanding the footprint of the world’s largest almond
receiving station. Upon completion of Bulk Warehouse 7
in the fall, the cooperative expects it will reduce wait times
for growers delivering their product to the facility through
improved mechanical features, an additional truck scale, a
new receiving pit and expanded box dumping capabilities.
“We expect 20 percent growth in our business in the coming
years and as such, we needed more storage to accommodate
the additional almonds. Bulk Warehouse 7 will give us 33
percent more receiving capacity,” said Darrell Nelson, Salida
Plant Manager. “The design and construction features were
carefully selected to maintain optimum product quality and
enhance our grower delivery speeds.”
The state-of-the-art warehouse features innovative design
elements, including:
• Prefabrication construction for concrete, structural steel,
conveyance support structures, conveyors and catwalks
to expedite the construction process;
• Roof-mounted in-feed conveyors to gently transport
almonds into storage;
• Spirals to guide the almonds from roof conveyors to the
ground;
• Floors sloped at 26-degrees to allow product to naturally
flow into underground outbound conveyors;
• Floor openings with integrated chutes and adjustable
gates automate the outbound conveyance of product
into processing plant.
“We are preserving product quality to meet expectations
of customers who source Extra # 1 and Supreme grade
almonds. This warehouse will be state of the art in design,
providing gentle handling, food safety and added flexibility
in order to meet the needs of our grower-owners as well as
customers,” said Nelson.
Growers who deliver to Salida will notice a redesigned
traffic flow to enhance the overall experience. The new
route will operate clockwise only, will not require trucks to
circulate around the receiving area and emphasize safer
traffic patterns overall. Specifically, there will be improved
staging areas and the elimination of the lower conveyor
that blocked access to receiving, making better use of the
property.
As the largest of
Blue Diamond
’s receiving stations
throughout the Central Valley, these enhancements,
coupled with the new warehouse, will make Salida capable
of efficiently tackling more business in the years to come.
Blue Diamond
Expands
Capabilities in Salida
Blue Diamond's
board and management break ground on the new
warehouse.
