Centennial Celebration

Blue Diamond Growers 100th anniversary centennial logo of 2010.

The Almond People are celebrating 100 years of innovative vision, determination and leadership led by the people who were and are Blue Diamond Growers. The venerable cooperative grew from a vulnerable association of 230 almond growers when they formed their association on May 6,1910, at the Hotel Turclu in downtown Sacramento, California, to be the world’s largest and most respected almond processing and marketing powerhouse.

Since 1910, their original name of the California Almond Growers Exchange eventually emerged as Blue Diamond Growers to emphasize the brand that has become synonymous with quality almonds worldwide. It made the perilous journey on the backs of visionary leaders committed to the idea that only through cooperative marketing could family farmers compete in the rough and tumble markets of the world.

That vision translated into more equitable returns for grower/members, a guaranteed home for their crops and an ever-expanding market for their products. Almost single-handedly it created an industry out of a loose collection of growers and shippers, an industry that swept from being a minor player in the world market to its current status as a global leader in growing, processing and marketing almonds. Today the California almond industry produces over 80 percent of the world supply and leads the state as the largest food export!