Griffith appeals to Australia’s leading almond processor
Australia’s leading almond processor and marketer is seeking more growers in the Riverina to consider making the switch to almonds.
Representatives of the South-Australian-based grower-owned company Almondco have already signed up more the dozen landholders in the district.
Almondco’s general manager Brenton Woolston and his board of directors visited Griffith late last month to inspect the new almond orchards and meet with their newest grower members.
He said getting involved in the almond industry made a lot of sense for local people with land and access to water.
“You have the ideal climate for growing almonds and a lot of the basic irrigation infrastructure already in place,” he said.
He said the historically stable returns of the almond industry suggested that it was not as prone to such drastic cyclical swings in supply and demand as other commodities.
Mr Woolston said increasing consumer global demand for almonds had prompted his company to broaden its supply base and focus on increasing its profile in the Riverina.
“We see the region as an integral part of our long term goals to meet demand,” Mr Woolston said.
“We have been extremely pleased with the level of interest shown and would like to think other landholders looking to plant alternative crops will also opt for almonds.”
Mr Woolston said there were several significant orchard developments already under way in the district and Almondco would be doing all it could to give those stakeholders the necessary support to maximise the returns on their investment.
“That’s beauty of our organisation. We were built by almond growers for almond growers. We don’t just process almonds, we assist the growers in every aspect of their business to ensure they grow the highest quality almonds possible.
“Almondco has a reputation for producing premium quality almonds and it’s in our best interests to help growers where we can.
“Our grower returns have been at unprecedented levels over the past 12 months and demand continues to outstrip supply.”
Mr Woolston said the world almond industry is dominated by the USA, but Almondco has forged strong alliances with a number of export markets as well as enjoying a strong foothold in the domestic market where it is the preferred supplier for companies such as Uncle Toby’s and Kelloggs.
Almondco has grower members in the Riverland and Adelaide Plains regions of South Australia and the Sunraysia in Victoria.
Its multi-million dollar processing plant and administrative headquarters are located in Renmark, 140km west of Mildura
