Blue Diamond Growers Break Ground On New Turlock Facility

TURLOCK (CBS13) — Blue Diamond Growers, one of the fastest-growing mid-size companies in the world, broke ground on a 52,000 square foot facility in Turlock Tuesday.

President and CEO Mark Jensen said the global demand for almond milk is behind the company's new expansion project in Turlock.

"If you opened your refrigerator any time in the last year, 20 percent of households would have had Almond Breeze on the shelf. But the same thing is happening in the UK and Australia, and in South Africa and in Thailand and other markets where we've launched Almond Breeze," Jensen said. "We already produce parts of Almond Breeze here. We lance the almonds here, we ship them up to Sacramento to be roasted and blended into our delicious Almond Breeze base,"

The new facility will allow the company to expand and make the almond milk in Turlock. The plant opened in 2013 with a 200,000 square foot space on Washington Road to process almonds received at its nearby facilities in Salida and Sacramento.

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"Over eight years ago we chose Turlock with a very ambitious proposal. We wanted to build a facility here in essentially one year," Jensen said.

The additional 52,000 square feet of space will allow the company to branch out into other products as well. Jensen said their global business grew 27 percent last year and 27 percent the year before. That demand keeps Blue Diamond creating new almond products.

It's part of a three-phase plan to eventually reach 500,000 feet. A facility designed to meet the demand and generate jobs in a community known for agriculture.

Blue Diamond Growers said they're scheduled to open the new facility in the spring of 2020.

The 108-year-old company is the largest in California's almond industry. It accounts for around 80 percent of the global volume of almond products.