Blue Diamond opens almond research centre

Sacramento, Calif. – Research into almonds has been taken to the next level with the creation of a centre devoted to the nutritious nut.

Blue Diamond Almonds’ Global Ingredients Division announced on March 14 that it will open a new 6,500-sq.-ft. research centre in California, which will focus on designing cutting-edge almond products.

Blue Diamond, a 103-year-old cooperative owned by over half of California’s almond growers, expects to increase new almond product sales growth five-fold over the next five years.

“The new facility,” says Mark Jansen, Blue Diamond’s president and CEO, “will be a showcase for initiating new almond product concepts for our consumer business and for the most innovative global food companies.”

The centre will lead the company’s efforts to develop new almond products. It will also be open to global food companies that want to explore the potential benefits of almond products worldwide, reports the Sacramento Bee.

Blue Diamond research and development workers have been developing almond products including everything from nondairy beverages to Blazin’ Buffalo Wing-flavoured almonds in a can.

The coop introduced a dozen almond products in the U.S. alone over the last six months and has about a dozen more set to launch in the next six months, says SacBee.com.

And now all that research will be done in a pristine centre that resembles a hybrid of a massive hotel kitchen and a top-tier medical research facility, adds SacBee.com. The centre is stocked with exotic-looking devices to measure such things as taste, shelf life, pH levels and flavour coatings.

The two-billion pound California almond crop is valued at US$6 billion. More than 80 per cent of world supply is grown in California, says Blue Diamond.

Photo: International Nut and Dried Fruit Council