Joint Meeting – NCIFT and AACT April 2013

Thank you to AACT for hosting the NCIFT at a recent joint meeting in Fairfield, CA. We enjoyed a nice meal at the Blue Frog Grog and Grill, and were educated by the speaker, Brian Dunning, Director of Quality Assurance for Blue Diamond Growers. Brian also chairs the Almond Quality and Food Safety Committee of the Almond Board of California. So he taught us a lot about almonds!
Did you know that 80% of the world’s almonds come from California? There are 6000 almond growers in the State of California, and California produced a 2 billion pound crop in 2011! Brian’s talk covered Blue Diamond’s business as a grower co – operative, including food safety issues that they have faced in the past and some that they are dealing with now.

Brian mentioned that Blue Diamond has a new facility in Turlock, CA. Maybe the follow-up from this meeting will result in an NCIFT tour of their new facility!