Almond Ace Packing, Inc., a grower-owned almond processing and export company, announced on Monday the purchase of its current processing plant and surrounding land in Ripon, California, along with an option to more than double its production campus and footprint over the next five years.
Almond Ace initiated negotiations to purchase the underlying real estate at its Ripon processing plant in the fall of 2014. To allow for future expansion and upgrading of its current processing facility, the company also negotiated purchase rights on the adjacent parcel which would increase its current campus by 100 percent.
"We are expanding our production volumes and wanted to lock in additional room for expansion," explained Anthony Mello, Almond Ace CEO. "We're pleased to now have the ability to double our facility's overall footprint and upgrade our current processing plant, equipment and infrastructure."
In the five years since it was founded in 2010, Almond Ace has grown from initial concept to an internationally-recognized and award-winning processor and exporter of high-quality almonds, manufactured almonds and walnuts.
The company said that its almond and walnut production volumes are increasing at double and triple digits annually, and it now manufactures and exports more than 15 million pounds of almonds to domestic and international markets each year.
Almond Ace currently processes and exports almonds in bulk, shelled and unshelled, to more than 30 countries around the world. It also recently added other manufactured nut products to its product line-up, and began processing walnuts at its sister company, Ace Walnut Company.