Almond Journey

Highlights from October's Global Update – produced by the Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California – include insights on increased import testing in the European Union (EU), the latest on Decree 248 and new facility registrations, and a recap of the EU's State of the Union address that downplayed the regions Farm to Fork strategies.

Dick Cunningham has a long history in the almond business as a grower and huller/sheller. Cunningham remains an active member of the Almond Alliance Board of Directors where he serves as chair of their political action committee. In this episode, Cunningham shares his journey, the ups and downs he has experienced over the years, the current challenges facing growers in 2023, and his outlook for the future.

“Farming is nothing but ups and downs. Just when you think things are good, things change, just like right now. Almonds have always been good to me and I think they'll be good in the future, but there's a lot of things to work on.” - Dick Cunningham

In Today’s episode:

• Dick Cunningham shares lessons and insights from over 50 years of working in the almond industry
• Discover Cunningham’s journey and history within the almond industry and what he has learned throughout that process
• Explore the impact Cunningham feels regulation has had on almond trade relations and regulations

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

September's Marketing bulletin from the Almond Board of California highlights recent efforts in India around Raksha Bandhan and details the 'Mother of All Snacks' campaign in Germany. The Germany campaign features almonds as a healthy snack rather than for just traditional baking uses.

Grower Dan Clendenin producer almonds in both Merced and Madera as part of a family partnership with his siblings. Growing up, the family grew fresh market vegetables, and they eventually planted almonds in the late 1970s. Clendenin shares his personal almond journey, his hands-on approach to orchard management and some of the innovative practices he has adopted over the years.

“Being outside is great, watching the blooms is great, watching it leaf when spring comes and new life. But as I said before, the best part is still when that check comes because you can't do the rest of it without the check.” - Dan Clendenin

In Today’s episode:

• Meet almond grower Dan Clendenin who farms in both Merced and Madera
• Explore Clendenin’s personal journey into farming almonds
• Discover Clendenin’s approach to financial and time management as well as new innovations he is using in his operation

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

September's Global Update highlights from the Global, Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California. Today's Almond Byte covers the removal of retaliatory tariffs on almonds in India, an update on the the Pre-Export Check (PEC) modifications being made for the UK, regulatory and political updates affecting clarity in the European Union market, and a new contract is in place between western docks and their workers.

Bikram Hundal is the vice president of operations for Custom Almonds and Sequoia Nut Company. Hundal shares how technology is changing the game in almond processing with optical sorters, artificial intelligence, robotics and other advancements. This technology allows for potential opportunities for data to be shared between growers, hullers and processors to capture more value for everyone involved. An engineer by training, Hundal previously held positions with equipment manufacturer Massey Ferguson and the Fresno County Public Works Department before transitioning into the almond industry.

“If we really think about it, there's literally no waste that is out there in almonds. With other commodities, they have to say ‘oh we throw those away’ for instance with the hulls. But for almonds, we have a great use for every part of the almond throughout its whole life cycle.” - Bikram Hundal

In Today’s episode:

• Meet Bikram Hundal the vice president of operations for Custom Almonds and Sequoia Nut Company
• Discover Hundals journey into almonds and the new technology he is excited about expanding within the almond industry
• Explore some of the industry-wide improvements that are occurring as result of COVID challenges

ABC Update

A standardized system of almond grading helps to ensure confidence in the quality and consistency of almonds purchased for various uses. Just last week, the Almond Board of California released an instructive video that explains USDA grades and standards. Jenny Nicolau, senior manager of industry relations and communications at the Almond Board highlights this five-minute video that outlines the sampling and grading process.

Watch the video: “Understanding Almond USDA Grades and Standards”

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

August's Marketing Bulletin from the Almond Board of California.

California Almonds are going Prime Time! The Almond Board of California (ABC) is launching a new one-of-a-kind partnership of legends with the one and only Coach Prime himself, Deion Sanders. Coach Prime is a legendary, multi-sport athlete turned coach and almonds are a legendary, multi-benefit packed snack with promising new research around exercise recovery. Both continually redefine what is possible.

In the biggest celebrity partnership ABC has taken part in, Deion Sanders will bring excitement and his iconic boldness to promote a groundbreaking research study around the exercise recovery benefits of almonds. The Own Your Prime campaign will give an inside look at what keeps Prime in his prime: consistency, hard work and recovering with almonds. 

The Own Your Prime campaign will come to life in the US market, launching at the beginning of the NCAA football season with advertisements airing on national and cable TV on CBS, Fox, ESPN and CBS Sports. The fully integrated campaign will run for 9 months, including a robust advertising, digital, social and public relations program. The campaign will even include retail advertising in select California stores on grocery carts and in the snack nut aisle.

Representing approximately 30% of total almond shipments, the US continues to be the number one destination for California Almonds. Consumers have very positive perceptions of almonds, rating them as not only one of the healthiest nuts, but one of the healthiest snacks. Despite these positive perceptions, the US has been facing significant headwinds stemming from unprecedented macro forces that are impacting almond consumption, such as changes in how we eat coming out of COVID, evolving perspectives on health and wellness, food inflation and increased competitive pressures. The Own Your Prime campaign comes at a great time to reach a broad audience and help, in part, to offset these headwinds and by bringing excitement and new meaningful news to consumers.

The goal of the Own Your Prime campaign is to appeal to a broad US audience and break through the competitive clutter in a bold way. This campaign will showcase new nutrition research findings of almonds and provoke consumers to rethink almonds and the value they deliver. Coach Prime will help translate the exercise research findings to increased almond consumption by showing consumers how to own their prime. Learn more about the campaign at Almonds.com/OwnYourPrime.

Several new almond marketing tactics for the India market will soon kick off as well, headlined by promotions around the ICC Cricket World Cup that will be back in India for the first time in 12 years.

The campaign is an opportunity to highlight the energy benefits of almonds as ads will run during the ICC Cricket World Cup in October and most of November, utilizing 10-second commercials that highlight those attributes of almonds. Tactics will also include billboards and bus shelters across the key markets of Delhi and Mumbai.

The ICC World Cup promotion also coincides with Diwali (Nov. 12), India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year. The event is a five-day-long festival of lights, joy, prosperity and happiness. It is a time of traditions during festival celebrations which includes the giving of food as gifts.

Highlights reviewing the crop season from August's Global Update, from the Global, Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California, in today's Almond Byte.

A major challenge this year was implementation of China’s Decree 248 requiring food facilities exporting food to China to finalize online CIFER registrations by June 30, 2023. ABC took the lead in assisting FDA complete these registrations managed by China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC). It was often hit and miss – since Jan 2022, at least 50-60 containers of almonds worth more than $10 million were held up in China due to minor administrative issues related to GACC registrations.

Through persistence and collaboration with FDA and USDA, most of the containers were eventually released into China. By the end of June, 65 handlers had finalized their registrations with GACC (valid for the next 5 years). ABC is now working with FDA to develop a system to assist “new” companies to register with GACC.

ABC continues to monitor Farm to Fork and Green Deal policies that will impact almond exports to European Union (EU). Several Farm to Fork policies are facing headwinds within Europe due to a variety of factors – the Pandemic, economic conditions and the impact of the ongoing war in the Ukraine on energy and food prices. ABC has worked with European partners to ensure industry concerns are shared with government officials.

Import inspections in the EU were another challenge this year due to inspection inconsistency and increased infestation detections resulting from large crops combined with logistical challenges. This past year, ABC worked with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service to help clear around 10 stuck shipments due to lack of Pre-Export Check certification, incorrect interpretation of import control rules and other issues. ABC is continuing to monitor the situation and is providing input to the EU Commission regarding import control guidance which should help harmonize industry experience across member states.

This past year, a more comprehensive trade strategy was developed to guide ABC priorities. The plan was rolled out to committees and the Board of Directors and the strategy identifies potential tariff reductions and technical barriers, while leveraging industry partner associations to amplify almond priorities – a key element to finding solutions to technical barriers to trade as we expand exports into new horizon markets.

The Global, Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at ABC has engaged with several international delegations this year including a Vietnamese team of importers and processors, a Pakistani delegation at the Gulfood Show in Dubai, the Turkish Nut Trade Association, and most recently a Vice Minister’s delegation from China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

In this episode, we visit with Brandon Rebiero, co-founder and the head of farming at Gold Leaf Farming. Rebiero, who also serves on the board of directors for The Almond Board of California, discusses a recent trip to Washington, D.C. There, a small group of Almond Board directors and staff met with leaders, regulators and other key partners to discuss relevant issues impacting the almond industry.

“They're definitely getting our message and obviously it's a big ship and slow to turn, but I felt pretty confident that we're doing everything within our bandwidth to effect change.” - Brandon Rebiero

In Today’s episode:

• Meet Brandon Rebiero, co-founder and head of farming at Gold Leaf Farming and member of the Almond Board of California Board of Directors
• Learn about a recent trip to Washington, D.C. on behalf of the almond industry and the impressions it left on Rebiero
• Discover what excites Rebiero most about the new Almond Board of California (ABC) CEO, Clarice Turner

ABC Update:

There is a lot of work happening year-round to deal with important regulatory issues that impact the almond industry. Almond Board of California Vice President of Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs (GTRA) Julie Adams shares more about the work her team does, the value of trips like the one highlighted in this episode and the significant outcomes that this work achieves.

“What we tend to do is try and form relationships, partnerships and really good networks to hear what's coming so we can be kind of an early warning system for the industry – to the extent of possibly heading things off before they become issues. I'd say that’s really the challenge for us.” - Julie Adams

Learn more about the work of the GTRA team and committee by listening to the monthly Almond Bytes and reading the Global Updates. 

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.

Lucas Schmidt, the vice president and chief operating officer of Grow West and Almond Leadership Program graduate, joined the journey to reflect on some of the challenges in the industry over the past few years including supply chain disruptions, interest rate hikes and inflation. He said these recent experiences emphasize the need for planning, budgeting, and really knowing the people you rely on to do business.

“You've gotta be grounded with the day-to-day, but also be looking ahead to try to make sure your plans align to what's coming. The deeper you can get within your supply partners and business partners is so key.” - Lucas Schmidt

In Today’s episode:

• Meet Lucas Schmidt, the vice president and chief operating officer of Grow West
• Discover recent almond industry challenges and how the industry has needed to pivot its efforts to recover
• Learn about Schmidt’s experience with the Almond Leadership Program and the many benefits he found working through it
• Read Schmidt’s Growing Together Summer 2023 blog about the importance of planning

To learn more about the Almond Leadership Program, please visit www.almonds.com/AlmondLeadershipProgram or contact Rebecca Bailey at [email protected].

The Almond Journey Podcast is brought to you by the Almond Board of California. This show explores how growers, handlers, and other stakeholders are making things work in their operations to drive the almond industry forward. Host Tim Hammerich visits with leaders throughout the Central Valley of California and beyond who are finding innovative ways to improve their operations, connect with their communities, and advance the almond industry.

ABC recognizes the diverse makeup of the California almond industry and values contributions offered by its growers, handlers, and allied industry members. However, the opinions, services and products discussed in existing and future podcast episodes are by no means an endorsement or recommendation from ABC. The Almond Journey podcast is not an appropriate venue to express opinions on national, state, local or industry politics. As a Federal Marketing Order, the Almond Board of California is prohibited from lobbying or advocating on legislative issues, as well as setting field and market prices.