Blue Diamond Growers, Sacramento, Calif., began expansion of its Turlock, Calif., processing facility.

The 200,000‐square‐foot manufacturing plant addition is part of the company’s continued plans to expand value‐added product lines and deliver new almond products worldwide.

The 52,000‐square‐foot building is the latest construction of the 3‐phased project that will eventually yield a total of about 500,000 square feet of building space over the next 9 years. This phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in spring 2020, and will accommodate growth of the cooperative’s business. The expansion consists of new automated processing and packaging equipment, and will create more than 100 jobs.

“We are pleased to build our partnership with the Turlock community by investing to expand our facilities and workforce,” says Mark Jansen, president and CEO. “We are creating the healthiest almond products and delivering the benefits of almonds to the world. This project allows Blue Diamond to meet the growing demand for our innovative almond products.”

“We are thankful to our growers who own this cooperative for entrusting their almonds to us, so we can continue to make valuable investments,” adds Dan Cummings, chairman of the board. “This project gives them a secure future in the almond business.”