More than six decades ago, in 1950 to be exact, the California Almond industry recognized that its constituents would be stronger working together than individually. At the request of the industry, a Federal Marketing Order was established for almonds by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. This marketing order allowed the almond industry to self-fund key activities that would help everyone succeed.
Today, Almond Board of California (ABC) remains industry funded by an assessment on the kernel weight of almonds, and is governed by an elected Board of 10 volunteer members. The Board is responsible for carrying out the priorities of the organization, recommending budgets and programs that will benefit the entire almond industry, and reviewing the results and effectiveness of the board’s programs.
Program Diversity
Almond Board of California (ABC) serves a diverse constituency, and therefore develops and funds programs that are inclusive of the different geographies and sectors of the almond industry. For instance, marketing programs that help increase demand for and access to California Almonds are implemented in both domestic and international markets. In fact, in the 2015–2016 marketing year, almonds were the No. 1 nut used in new-product introductions worldwide.1
Almond Board also invests in research that helps positively impact consumer perception of almonds. Since 1995, the organization has invested nearly $23 million in nutrition research, including the Heart Health claim. This has helped increase the U.S. per capita consumption of almonds by nearly 8% over the past five years.2
While the Federal Marketing Order that first created ABC allowed the organization to fund many programs that help the industry, the one thing that ABC has no influence on is setting the field or market price of almonds.
Commodity programs across the country are proof that there is strength in numbers. With continued strategic investments and market research, ABC will continue to make solid decisions to fund programs that will benefit all almond growers and processors.
1. Innova Market Insights, Global New Products Database, 2015.
2. USDA, Economic Research Service, Fruit & Treenut Situation and Outlook. Almond Board of California.
