Where Growers Lead, Good Stories Follow

EU media, influencer bloom tour demonstrates almond industry’s commitment to responsible farming

There’s a lot of truth in the saying, “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I’ll remember, involve me and I’ll understand.” So when it comes to telling the California almond story to a crucial consumer audience, the Almond Board of California (ABC) capitalizes on opportunities to invite prominent media and influencers to spend time with the industry’s most prominent leaders.

Second-generation almond grower Christine Gemperle is one of those leaders.

Gemperle farms on her family’s operation in Turlock, California, and this bloom season her orchards played host to journalists and influencers from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, all who traveled to California’s Central Valley in hopes of learning how almonds are grown and meeting the growers who produce 80% of the world’s almonds.

During the tour, Gemperle explained why she is proud to be a farmer in an industry committed to being good stewards of the land and providing the world with a healthy, safe and nutritious product. She also told her guests all about her family’s history of growing almonds and the industry’s history of doing more with less: how water-saving technologies have helped almond farmers reduce the amount of water it takes to grow a pound of almonds by 33% over the past 20 years,¹ how almond farmers have a deep, vested interest in protecting honey bee health, etc.

“Christine is passionate, articulate and talks about almond farming in a way that is instantly relatable. Her energy and love for what she does is clear, and her exuberant personality helps bring complex messaging to life in a fun and engaging way,” said Kathryn Martino, consultant for ABC’s marketing team in Europe.

And while almond industry members are fairly familiar with their achievements in water use efficiency, their continued efforts to preserve honey bee health, etc., it’s essential that consumers — and those whom they look to for purchasing and lifestyle decisions — be aware and informed of the industry’s efforts to farm responsibly and sustainably, as well. Today’s consumers gravitate towards certain products and brands based on companies’ commitment to sustainable practices, from reducing waste to responsibly sourcing key ingredients, and so it is critical that the California almond industry be part of this larger, global conversation and get its sustainability story through to consumers who are interested to know how almonds are produced.

And this orchard tour reinforced that consumers’ interest.

During the tour UK influencers Venetia Falconer, a London-based producer and founder/host of the 5-star rated podcast, Talking Tastebuds, and Max la Manna, a zero-waste chef who never wastes food when creating meals and who is an avid voice for sustainability and environmental conservation around the world, were sharing facts about the industry and beautiful pictures of almond bloom.

“Falconer and la Manna are leading sustainability influencers and advocates of zero waste. Their followers live and breathe sustainability and are super critical of industries, organizations and brands that aren’t doing enough,” said Martino.

According to Martino, it was clear that the stories these influencers were telling — from almond growers’ commitment to honey bee health to the industry’s use of everything the tree grows (hulls, shells, woody biomass) — were resonating with their many followers.

“Their followers were sending them direct messages during the tour, asking them questions and probing for further information or sources on facts and stats about the almond industry,” said Martino. “Being able to help Falconer and la Manna compose answers to their followers’ questions and inform the content of their posts — which were seen by hundreds of thousands of people — meant that we were able to educate an important and influential audience.”

Beyond consumer influencers, key media outlets also responded enthusiastically to the orchard tour, including an outlet called Female First.

Female First is a prominent outlet in the UK that reaches more than one million viewers monthly with 8k Facebook followers and 16.6k Twitter followers. Shortly after the tour, the outlet dispelled common myths about California almond production in its article “The biggest misconceptions and myths about almonds and almond farming,” addressing key topics of consumer concern such as honey bee health and water use. That same outlet then wrote an empowering profile of Gemperle titled, “Meeting the female California almond farmer who's grabbing the stereotype by the nuts,” which shared Gemperle’s experience as a California almond grower and her passionate, driven approach to farming in an industry she loves. Both articles prove as successful outcomes from the bloom tour, and ABC even featured Gemperle’s profile on various social media channels on International Women’s Day in early March.

Multiple tour attendees shared highlights from their visit on social media, with additional posts extending into the following weeks. The resulting activity on social media carried the California almond story to hundreds of thousands of consumers.

Through storytelling tactics like this orchard tour — featuring one of the industry’s brightest personalities — the Almond Board can deliver unbelievable value for the industry.

“The orchard tour is a key milestone in our annual activity plan, and it’s a similar story in other [almond industry] markets, because it’s so unbelievably valuable in terms of output,” said Dariela Roffe-Rackind, director of Europe and Global Public Relations at the Almond Board. “A considerable amount of work goes into making this happen, from staff, agencies and growers. It truly is a win-win when we see the results.”