President and CEO of the Central California Almond Growers Association (CCAGA), Michael Kelley has witnessed several industry ups and downs over his nearly two decades in the almond sector. Kelley described some of his experiences in the latest episode of the Almond Journey Podcast from the Almond Board of California. As the largest huller/sheller of almonds in the world, CCAGA has weathered a variety of industry events. Kelley said the recent supply chain issues may have left a lasting impact.
“As we’ve seen with the supply chain situation where there was a slowdown in trying to get product out of the market, it had a detrimental effect on almonds,” Kelley explained. “That crushed consumption. That destroyed demand. So, for the almond industry, at a time when we thought maybe that we had a market that could support a 2.8-billion-pound crop, maybe we can’t support that anymore in this new reality coming after the pandemic.”
On the plus side, the slowdown within the supply chain has been working itself out. However, a drop in general consumption due to inflation is largely responsible. The economic conditions in the global market also present immediate challenges for the almond industry. Detrimental impacts to global demand due to supply chain issues and now economic hardships could keep consumption levels lower in the short term. Kelley said that demand could return to pre-pandemic levels, but that will rest heavily on global economic factors.
“What we’re hearing is the potential of dipping into a recession,” Kelley noted. “A recession here means that globally it’s going to be worse for a lot of people in a lot of third world countries that we’re relying on to ship almonds to.”
You can find the latest episodes, including the one with Michael Kelley, by searching “Almond Journey” wherever you get your podcasts and online at Almonds.com.
Listen to the segment below.
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