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“GOOD TO BE A MEMBER”Knowledge is power andpride for young leaders»Cory Ramos, participantfrom District 6: “Seeing theinternational side of the businessand what Blue Diamond does forus made me proud to be a BlueDiamond grower.”Learning about the business side of their cooperative stirred feelingsof awe and pride in the 30 young growers who participated in the 2012Class of Blue Diamond’s Young Leader Program. These feelings led thesuperlatives voiced by the young growers at their graduation dinner inModesto the evening before the 2012 Annual Growers Meeting.They, along with four young bankers who serve the almond community, visited BlueDiamond’s plant and headquarters in Sacramento in January, toured the state capitol andmet with legislators and legislative advocates who represent them in the Capitol. In June,they learned about operations at the Salida plant, saw almond trees being prepared forsale to growers, and witnessed the assembly of almond harvesting equipment.From these adventures, along with interaction with the cooperatives elected directors andtop management, the young growers said that they developed a deep appreciation for thework their cooperative does on their behalf around the world. Some of their comments:Andrew and Dyana Parsons, District 7 participants: “The Young Leader Program was an eye opener. It has helped usdo our job better.”Eric Cabral, participant from District 7: “I appreciated learning what the future holds for the almond industry.”Sean and Valerie Shick, participants from District 9: “The biggest takeaway for us was meeting the team that runs BlueDiamond and seeing how competent and professional they are.”Eric and Theresa Heinrich, District 5 participants: “ Blue Diamond achieves a level of unsurpassed excellence. It isconstantly adding value-added products. We are proud to be members!”Brandon Longstreth, District 4 participant: “I didn’t know much about Blue Diamond. I discovered how impressive it is— the plants, product development, market development — all that it does for us.”A Fantastic TimeMark Jansen, President and CEO, in a brief hint of what he would discuss in his annual meetingremarks the next day, noted that in spite of the difficult business climate in the United States and,especially, in California, Blue Diamond believes it is time to expand operations with a new, ultraefficient,state-of-the-art almond processing facility in Turlock.“We developed a 15-year vision of what we think we need to efficiently process your crops inthe years ahead. That shared long-term vision was critical in making the big leap to saying, ‘Yes,we should invest to assure our continued success,’” Jansen said. “It was a collective decision bythe board and the leadership team. It is a three-phase project with the first phase to be ready foroperations next summer. When you see that first phase you will say, ‘Wow, this is impressive!’ Thisis a fantastic time to be part of Blue Diamond Growers.”Selling to the WorldBlue Diamond almonds flow from California orchards to consumers in nearly every corner of theworld, explained Warren Cohen, Director of Sales for the Global Ingredients Division. “If youare walking down a supermarket aisle in the U.S., Japan, any nation of the European Unionor any Asian country, you will see cereals, chocolate products, bakery goods, processed foodsand snacks that incorporate Blue Diamond almonds as one of the main ingredients.”30 Almond Facts NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2012»Lynae Lucchesi,daughter of BoardMember SteveVan Duyn andparticipant fromDistrict 5: “It wasgreat to see howBlue Diamonddoes what itdoes.”