What does it take to reach millions of almond consumers with pro-industry messages?
A whole lot of elbow grease and a little luck.
That’s one takeaway from a recent push to tell the world about exciting research into valuable new uses for almond coproducts.
Almond growers and handlers know that all products from the orchard can be put to good use. But for consumers, the delicious, nutritious almond kernel has always been the top of mind, and, understandably, typically the only almond product on their minds.
However, a recent stream of coverage, starting with a far-reaching placement in the popular consumer publication Fast Company, began to change that.
Fast Company published an article on new, innovative uses for almond coproducts after attending a USDA research facility tour organized by the Almond Board of California (ABC). The article introduced consumers to the expanding universe of possibilities for coproducts and, at the same time, demonstrated the industry’s commitment to getting the most out of its farmland.
“For every pound of almonds we produce, we get two pounds of hulls,” said ABC’s Danielle Veenstra, manager of Reputation Management and Sustainability Communications, in the article. “We’re always trying to figure out the best use of these.”
USDA researchers guided the Fast Company reporter through the facility, stopping to discuss each focus of the industry’s coproducts research: almond hull sugar extraction applications, almond-reinforced recycled plastics, hull-based growth mediums for specialty mushrooms and more. The industry’s commitment to zero-waste farming shone bright throughout the tour.
The Almond Board arranged this tour of the Western Regional Research Center as a way to demonstrate the almond industry’s forward-thinking nature to a leading media outlet who is focused on innovative technologies, leadership and design, and whose coverage of the tour then spread to California almonds’ valuable consumers. Months of planning and coordination led to the tour’s success, which culminated into an article that exposed almond coproduct research to the general public.
Once the article was published a ripple effect began, as often happens after a big news story hits the press. Other news outlets became interested in the concept of almond coproduct uses and they started to cover the topic. In addition to Fast Company’s article, Green Matters, Food Republic, The World Economic Forum and California’s own Turlock Journal covered the story, which reached more than 17 million consumers.
The news then went viral on social media. Popular pages ATTN and NowThis produced and shared videos on the almond industry’s exploration into new coproduct uses. These videos were shared across Facebook by consumers, the Almond Board and even MTV’s Facebook page. Together, more than 17 million people viewed the videos.
ABC’s work to share the latest in industry advancements is part of a larger effort to advance almonds in the mind of our consumers. Obtaining media coverage is always a challenge and never a guarantee, but, in this instance, consumers successfully connected with the California almond community’s commitment to a zero-waste approach and efforts to use all parts of the almond tree.
