PRESIDENT’S CORNER
“GROWING TOGETHER” ANNUAL MEETING 2025 President & CEO’s Speech It has been quite a year of change, but we are forging ahead together. It has been tough out there for many industries, especially in the food and beverage industry. For Blue Diamond Growers, revenues and net sales were up, grower payments were up, and fortunately, markets are also continuing to improve.
Kai Bockmann President & CEO
However, our payment relative to our industry peers was disappointing. Over the last decade, we’ve done well relative to our peers, but this year was different. To take accountability for the result, to provide context on how we got here, to address concerns, and to dispel rumors, leadership spent weeks traveling through the Valley to meet with many of you. Most importantly, those conversations focused on our path forward and what we are doing considering our headwinds. If you were at our annual meeting, you heard us say that our business is in fact doing well, but this is a marathon, not a sprint. Revenues and net sales were higher than the previous year, grower payment was higher than the previous year, and our balance sheet remains very robust. This has been a year of transformation. We embarked on the biggest change journey in our history to reduce our cost structure. We accelerated our innovation pipeline to get into new products and new markets, moving away from our overdependence on Almond Breeze ® and Snack Nuts.
The market is more volatile than ever. Consumers are shifting and we face an inflationary environment and tariff uncertainty. To win, we need to stay ahead. We need to evolve and adapt, because volatility is the new normal. Blue Diamond has been successful for 115 years as it has shown resilience in the face of change. This year was full of change: a brand refresh, new products, new markets, and new consumers. Difficult but necessary
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ALMOND FACTS
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