 |
|
|
||
|
Statement on Salmonella and Food Safety
5/24/04 FDA Approves Qualified Health
Claim 7/16/03 Billion Pound Crop
Estimate 7/1/03 New Processing Facility 9/13/02
|
Letter to the trade – January 10, 2003: California Almond Industry sets crop record at 1-billion pounds! When an industry works together to prepare itself for challenging times, and makes sacrifices in order to be ready to deal with those challenges, it should not shrug off its ultimate victory as a small accomplishment, but celebrate it as something special – a "graduation" of sorts. That is the emotion running through the California Almond Industry today, and Hilltop Ranch, Inc. shares in that feeling. The December 2002 Position Report made it official – a billion pound crop has been received in 2002, and is being marketed successfully by the handlers, brokers, and traders who sell to the industry’s powerful end-users. From marketable receipts to-date of 1.002 billion pounds, the industry has shipped nearly – 495.2 million pounds. In total, 70% of the crop is committed, not taking into account the 25% of handlers who did not voluntary report their commitments. This has made for a surprisingly bullish atmosphere in the marketplace, with prices on Standard-5 rising from a season opening at about $1.00/lb. to about $1.40/lb. today – an astonishing trend against the backdrop of a bumper crop! Demand is strong from a wider range of export destinations than ever before. Sales are up 5% in Western Europe, and up 45% in Eastern Europe. The Middle East is up 15%, Asia up 30%, South America up 15%, Africa up 34%, and Canada up 18%. Domestic sales in the USA (by far the largest market at 250-million pounds) are up 25%! Surely one cannot dismiss this as anything less than a complete victory for those who have fought to strengthen the value of the almond through energetic marketing, industry promotion, and funding of valuable research programs. And all of it done, by-the-way, without the need for a crop reserve! Recently circulated reports regarding El Nino indicate that current climate forecasts should be cause for careful attention in coming months. The current El Nino has been characterized as a "moderate" El Nino, however analysis of the effects of moderate El Nino’s on crops in the 1980’s and 90’s, strongly suggests that we should expect a 2003 crop that is at least 20% smaller than this year’s "billion-bumper". Despite the influence of market speculation in transitions between crop years, we believe that some of the fundamentals of our almond market are changed, perhaps forever. Demand for almonds, due to positive nutritional news, and high-usage by food manufacturers in a wide range of products in many international markets, now means that no single market or class of trader can make or break the almond market. This means that new patterns of price determination are emerging, and that California is in a better position to price its crop according to the needs of growers, as well as buyers. Hilltop Ranch, Inc. is pleased to have been a part of the California Almond Industry for these past two decades, and congratulates its colleagues in the trade for their good work and its customers for their loyalty and enthusiasm for one of nature’s most perfect foods – the almond! We invite your comments, and your visit at our new plant in Ballico, which has just come online this season.
|
|
