Raj Samran is chief operating officer of Hilltop Ranch, Inc. Taj Samran serves as vice president and handles grower relations for the company while also serving as CEO of Samran & Sons Farming. The Samrans share how their family got their start in growing almonds and how that led to also becoming hullers and processors. They also share what keeps them striving for growth despite challenging economic conditions. “We really like it when an employee says, our company, or like this is our forkli...
Nov 07, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 50
October's Marketing Bulletin from the Almond Board of California includes the launch of several tactics this crop year in the Indian market, leveraging the sport of cricket, traditional celebrations, and weddings.
Oct 31, 2023•3 min
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.
Oct 20, 2023•4 min
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,...
Oct 11, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 49
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.
Sep 30, 2023•3 min
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 b...
Sep 28, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 48
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.
Sep 14, 2023•5 min
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 Fer...
Sep 05, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 47
August's Marketing Bulletin from the Almond Board of California. A Partnership of Legends: California Almonds + Prime Time 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 continual...
Aug 31, 2023•4 min
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. Chinese facility registrations 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 Cust...
Aug 21, 2023•4 min
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 fel...
Aug 14, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 46
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 ...
Jul 25, 2023•24 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Highlights from July's Global Update, from the Global, Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California, in today's Almond Byte. ABC Visit to DC Coincides with India Tariff Reductions The annual Almond Board of California (ABC) industry delegation visit to Washington DC coincided this year with the first State Visit of India’s Prime Minister Modi. During the week of June 19th, the delegation met with several U.S. government officials including Ambassador McKalip, the Unite...
Jul 13, 2023•4 min
In this episode, we meet four impressive members of the California Future Farmers of America (FFA) who were awarded scholarships this year by The Almond Board of California (ABC). Since 2016, ABC’s fundraising efforts have been led by the Almond Leadership Program who has helped to raise more than $250,000 through donations, an annual golf tournament, and a live and silent auction during The Almond Conference every year. In 2023, sixteen FFA members were awarded these scholarships, including the...
Jul 11, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 44
June's Marketing Bulletin from the Almond Board of California. Almonds Take Over Mexico City During the first two months of 2023 and around National Almond Day efforts, California almonds took to the streets of Mexico by driving two mobile billboard trucks, covered with almond advertising creative, to top locations in Mexico City. The billboard trucks visited nine shopping malls, 20 supermarkets and 15 gyms. And at each stop, ABC hosted interactive events like snack workshops, giveaways, and yog...
Jun 28, 2023•3 min
Tanya Gemperle-Goncalves of Gemperle Farms has taken a particular interest in finding ways to improve their almond operation over time. She joined the Journey to share some of her experiments including cover crops, compost, whole orchard recycling and more. “There are these practices that we want to implement, and what I'm trying to figure out is where can I reduce the risk? Where can I reduce the amount of effort on our part and make it as practical on our farm and as efficient as possible?” - ...
Jun 21, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 43
USTR Chief Ag Negotiator Visits California After speaking at the recent Agri-Pulse Conference, ABC was able to arrange orchard visits for USTR Chief Ag Negotiator Doug McKalip. The almond and walnut orchards outside of Sacramento were the perfect venue to discuss the impact of tariffs and technical issues on the shipment of almonds. An important point that was highlighted was the fact that despite increases in shipments to several key markets, growers are operating at a considerable economic los...
Jun 15, 2023•3 min
Michael Kelley is the president and CEO of the Central California Almond Growers Association . With four shellers in two locations, the association is the largest huller/sheller of almonds in the world. Kelley shares several insights about the current state of the industry, including economics, logistics, technology, supply chain, and drivers of past, present and future success. “We're on track to have the largest return we've ever had to our members at a time that they really need it; so, it's ...
Jun 01, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 42
May's Marketing Bulletin from the Global Market Development and Reputation Management teams at the Almond Board of California. Leveraging Nutrition Research The Almond Board is currently running ads on Facebook and Instagram encouraging consumers to learn more about the benefits of eating almonds before meals. Ads seek to reach people that express interest in topics such as specific diet trends (e.g., paleo, keto), nutrients, or visit health websites like WebMD, and more. The ads just aren’t run...
May 22, 2023•3 min
Highlights from the May 2023 Global Update from the Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California. Economic Impact Analysis of Retaliatory Tariffs on Exports of California Almonds California almond exporters have been increasingly frustrated about favorable tariff conditions for Australian almonds while U.S almonds continue to suffer under retaliatory tariffs. Australia has a free trade agreement with China, reduced tariff treatment with India, and may soon have ...
May 18, 2023•6 min
Mackey Violich is part of the ownership team at Capay Farms , a 13,000-acre almond and walnut farming operation. As sustainability manager, Violich has explored a variety of innovative solutions like solar, cover crops, composting, carbon credits, electric equipment, whole orchard recycling and more. “There's a lot of green washing out there. But if you have the data and the numbers to back it up, it makes it easier because it's the whole industry. If we all make a change it's gonna make a big i...
May 17, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Almond grower Dennis Yotsuya has a small orchard in Cortez, California. Through winter sanitation and mass trapping, he has been able to avoid hull sprays for navel orangeworm in recent years. Yotsuya describes his approach and the benefits he has seen in reducing damage from the pest. “Even though I didn't spray much, what intrigued me was that once you put a trap out, it works all the time. Whereas the people that are spraying, you had to hit these certain windows of time to be effective. So, ...
May 04, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Third generation farmer Keith Yamamoto and his family farm a variety of crops including almonds in Westley, California. Diversification in crops, markets and approaches has been an important part of the Yamamoto family’s business strategy. Yamamoto joined the Journey to share how he found his role in the family operation and how he looks at risk management, growth, and value-added opportunities. “My dad had a saying I remember from when I was a little kid, ‘You have to farm like you're going to ...
Apr 21, 2023•23 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Highlights from the April 2023 Global Update from the Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California. Decree 248 Update Food and Drug Agency has stopped managing China’s CIFER portal. China’s General Administration of Customs, also known as the GACC, uses the portal for U.S. facility registrations. This recent action creates great uncertainty for those companies waiting to finalize their GACC registrations or for “new” companies waiting to register their facilitie...
Apr 13, 2023•4 min
A banker and CPA – who both also grow almonds – join the Journey to talk about farm finance and accounting. Ted Reimers is the vice president in the agribusiness group at American Ag Credit in Turlock and owns an orchard in Orland. Robert Holtermann farms near Wasco and is also a certified public accountant. Today’s episode highlights both their farming operations and how their perspectives as a banker and CPA have informed the decisions they’re making for their farm businesses. “I grew up in it...
Mar 30, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Highlights from the March 2023 Global Update from the Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California. ABC participation in the Gulfood Show ABC exhibited in the USA Pavilion at the Gulfood show in Dubai during the week of Feb 20. The USA Pavilion included 158 U.S. companies and associations including nine almond exporters. The show hosted over 5,000 exhibitors from 125 countries and was attended by over 2 million commercial visitors. Many of them expressed interes...
Mar 14, 2023•5 min
Mohnish Seth is the president and owner of Farmers International . He and his wife Versha Seth joined the Journey to share their incredible story of migrating to California from India in the early 1990’s to find a new source for high quality almonds. Their experiences offer real insights into how India – which doesn’t have any domestic production of almonds – has become such a massive consumer. “The way things are done in California especially, everything is counted, everything is accountable. T...
Mar 09, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Third generation almond grower Eric Spycher farms alongside his brother, Curt, and their father near Balico, California. This past year, Spycher was one of a few growers approached by the Turlock Irrigation District to collaborate on a groundwater recharge project. Spycher joins the Journey to share the impressive results they’ve seen from this work, how the project got started, what made his 40-acre field a good fit for this, what reservations he had, and how everything has turned out so far. H...
Feb 23, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Highlights from the February 2023 Global Update from the Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs team at the Almond Board of California. Algeria Requires Fumigation ABC sent out a note to handlers on January 26 stating that Algeria does not require fumigation per USDA/APHIS. However, after further follow-up, it has been confirmed that a fumigation requirement implemented in late 2022 only allows Aluminum or Magnesium Phosphide fumigation of products intended for export to Algeria. The fumigation...
Feb 14, 2023•4 min
In this episode, we revisit The Almond Conference 2022 with Almond Board President and CEO Richard Waycott to recap his message on the state of the almond industry. Waycott discusses grower profitability, water and biomass all while reflecting on his 20 years in the almond industry and his hope for what he has announced will be his final year leading The Almond Board of California. “On the agricultural side, on the marketing side, on the regulatory side, there are just tremendous and innovative ...
Feb 01, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 35
