Almonds unstoppable?

Luis of the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group posts this news about the growth of almond demand.

From the story:

Shipments of 2007 California almond crop are breaking all records, according to Blue Diamond President and CEO, Doug Youngdahl. The industry shipped 18 percent more almonds in August through October 2007, than was shipped last year at the same time, he told the cooperative's growers at their 97th annual meeting. August shipments alone were a stunning 61 percent over last August and 20 percent ahead of the prior record set in 2004!
According to Blue Diamond, a cooperative owned by over half of the state's almond growers, at the current shipment pace, a 20 percent demand growth over the next year could solidify California almonds as the leading U.S. marketing model of the decade. "The 2007 crop forecast of 1.33 billion pounds, or 19 percent more than last year, is on target based on early receipts," said Youngdahl.
Despite increasingly larger crops, Blue Diamond has advocated over the last four years for grower returns that reflect steadily increasing demand. This has built a confidence in growers and the marketplace that is unprecedented in agriculture. Bearing almond acreage is expected to climb by at least 50,000 new net acres in 2008, followed by an additional 50,000 acres in 2009 and another 40,000 acres in 2010. While yields are rising, costs are also escalating.
At the same time, the Blue Diamond branded retail franchise has tripled in sales over the last four years and it's branded natural foods line has increased 50 percent in the last year. This has helped to contribute to another near-record overall sales year of $658 million (just $16 million short of last year's record). "This sales growth returned Blue Diamond growers another near-record year in payments second only to last year's record," said Youngdahl. "We also added new grower tonnage to our throughput which helps to offset production costs and increase grower return on investment."
Youngdahl attributed another bumper year in sales and competitive grower payments to an aggressive marketing and sales campaign that introduced 11 new branded products and myriad new uses of almonds in cereals, ice cream, confectionaries and baked goods. Backed by an aggressive new Blue Diamond television campaign featuring taste and health attributes of almonds, the branded program introduced "100 calorie packs" for weight management, a new Oven Roasted line for healthy snacking in self-measured servings, expanded the Nut Thins cracker line of wheat-free snacks and offered new Almond Breeze non- dairy beverage alternatives to lactose-intolerant consumers.


TK: Blue Diamond - see their Web site here - is finding plenty of reasons to celebrate the almond's success. But 140,000 new acres over the next three years is bound to test the limits of the almond's popularity.