nov-dec-2020

CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE Celebrating 110 Years This year we celebrate the 110-year anniversary of the Blue Diamond Growers cooperative. I am privileged to have been a member of the Blue Diamond Board of Directors since 2006 and have served as your Chairman the past six years. I’m a proud third generation Blue Diamond grower from Chico up in Butte County. And, I’m honored to have represented Blue Diamond on the Almond Board of California, including three years as Board Vice Chairman, and numerous years as Chairman of the domestic and international marketing committees. On May 6, 1910, a small group of California almond growers banded together right here in Sacramento to form the California Almond Growers Exchange (CAGE). What those innovative growers did was not only establish the foundation of Blue Diamond Growers but solidify a sustainable future for generations of almond growers to come. As I mentioned, I am a third-generation farmer. My grandfather started growing almonds in 1928, for CAGE, and I know he’d be quite proud to see that I’ve carried on his legacy. At this year’s annual meeting, we featured a video showing some of our growers discussing their own legacies. It is a great testament to the trust and loyalty our growers have placed in our co-op. Thank you to the Montgomery, Miyamoto and Lewis families for sharing your legacies and helping tell the Blue Diamond story this year. As we celebrate our rich past, let us also reflect on this past year and take a look forward into our future. Without a doubt 2020 has been a year of unexpected hurdles. Despite the global pandemic, our cooperative was able to navigate the challenges and remain operational through it all. But 2020 wasn’t all bad. As growers, we experienced a phenomenal bloom across all our districts. We enjoyed near perfect weather during the growing season. And, many of us had a fairly compressed harvest timeframe that got our crop out of the orchards and into the hands of Blue Diamond processors quicker than normal and ahead of the rainy season. And what a crop it is! Estimates are that it will be the largest in history at three billion pounds. I fully understand the implications that can have for us growers in terms of impacts on pricing. Many of us may experience decreasing returns that could impact our livelihood. We also know this is cyclical. It may be a few years until the world market adjusts to a new supply base. But because of the bravery and innovative spirit of our founders 110 years ago, we Blue Diamond growers will fare better than our competitors. That’s due to the strength and value that is added to our almonds through our co-op. It is because of our commitment to the three main values our co-op was founded on in 1910: Quality, Innovation and Partnership. As we look to the future of Blue Diamond , we must continue to carry those values through in all we do. The success of Blue Diamond Growers has been built on quality. Since 1930, our industry Dan Cummings Chairman of the Board 1 0 A L M O N D F A C T S