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CORNERING THE MARKET
According to Sleeper, these markets look
to Blue Diamond for their almond supply
because of the long-term relationships they
enjoy with the cooperative. “Our ability
to be there for our Asian customers longterm
goes a long way. They appreciate our
reliability and willingness to meet with them
face-to-face, and we are happy to provide
that stable relationship,” Sleeper said.
He explained that customers and
consumers in this region of the world
have a special appreciation for farmers.
“There is a great respect for farmers and
agriculture in general, and they very much
value the work that goes into growing,
harvesting and processing the world’s food
supply,” he explained. “They have great
trust that our almonds are the highest
quality and safest products in the world.
This was particularly important during the
aftermath of the tsunami when safe food
was vital to Japanese customers.”
Enhancing Relationships
Through Customer Service
Bill Morecraft, General Manager of the Global
Ingredients Division, provided this outlook on the current
state of the industry and what else his division is doing to
grow as the industry leader.
“Almonds continue to be an ever-popular
choice among consumers. For example,
analysis of the U.S. grocery market for
2011, excluding Wal-Mart and club stores,
showed that within the cereal category,
cereals with almonds account for nearly
$500 million in revenue. Put another
way, 7.6 percent of all cereals sold contain
almonds!” Morecraft said. “The choice for
almonds in snack and energy bars remains
high with almonds found in 20 percent of
the products within the grocery segment,
accounting for more than $530 million in
revenue. Category sales increased by 3.5
percent in 2011 over the prior year and by
10.4 percent when compared to 2009.”
Blue Diamond continues to raise the bar with
regard to the services and expertise we
provide to our customers. “Our approach
is unique. It is the ‘deep dive’ we are
doing to provide critical information to
our sales team, that enables them to be
category experts for how to incorporate
almonds within our customers’ business
segments,” he explained. “This enhanced experience is
just one example of how we set ourselves apart from our
competitors.”
Blue Diamond’s product and business development
teams work hand-hand with customers’ R&D, logistics
24 Almond Facts MAY | JUNE 2012