The nation's largest almond processor, Almondco Australia , marked its 60 th anniversary in late October by declaring that its purpose built processing facility at Renmark has become debt free within nine years.
Company chairman Stephen Mann said at the company's annual general meeting in Renmark, that the achievement served to reinforce the company's policy of adhering to its core business activities of processing and marketing almonds.
"How often to we hear reports where the core business of a company records of profit, but other on-the-side ventures have lost money and impact heavily on their bottom line.
"I am proud to say that is not a position we find ourselves in here at Almondco.
"We have a strong commitment to sticking to what we do best - processing and marketing our wide range of almond products."
"To be debt free gives us a big advantage over our competitors."
Mr Mann said the strength of the domestic market and the financial strength of Almondco ensured that the benefits of increasing demand could be passed onto growers. More than 100 growers and industry leaders attended the AGM and anniversary celebrations .
Mr Mann paid tribute to the work of general manager Brenton Woolston and his management team at the company's world class facility near Renmark. Almondco posted a record crop intake for 2003 and unprecedented sales revenue during the 2003-2004 season.
Mr Woolston said early indications were that the results from 2004 crop would also show further improvement for the fifth consecutive season.
