almond grower cooperative

Blue Diamond Growers

Industry Food

A California almond grower cooperative selling mainstream grocery almonds, nut thins, almond flour, and almond beverages under the Blue Diamond brand. Blue Diamond Growers scores well because ownership is comparatively aligned and governance has stronger accountability than peers, though ecological harm still limits the evaluation.

Why this matters: Blue Diamond is a relatively strong grocery-staple actor because almond growers own the enterprise, but almond water footprint and processed extensions keep it from the top tier.

Letter grade C Performative Medium confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1 Last reviewed May 10, 2026

Final Score 36* C - Performative

CPERFORMATIVE36 pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material45

Bonus+0

Cap66No structure cap

After Cap45

Penalties-9

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Evaluation Overview

C - Performative

The score turns mainly on Ownership, with the largest penalty coming from Policy Capture.

Strengths

Ownership6/10
Governance6/10
Extraction6/10

Penalties

Policy Capture-6
Ecological Harm-2
High-Carbon Products-1

Evidence state

ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessDeveloped (AI)
Linked claims5
Direct axis claims5
Coverage5/12

Scoring Axes

Axis	Score	Why this score
Ownership ? Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.	6 / 10	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. That places Blue Diamond Growers in the middle of Ownership: there is some mission, member, producer, or public-interest constraint, but decisive control is not fully democratic. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Linked evidence Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1]
Governance ? Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.	6 / 10	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. That places Blue Diamond Growers in the middle of Governance: there are accountability mechanisms, but they stop short of broad democratic control. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1]
Extraction ? Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.	6 / 10	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. That places Blue Diamond Growers in the middle of Extraction: the institution creates real value but still leaves room for rent extraction, unequal bargaining, or surplus capture. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1] context Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. [2]
Labor Sovereignty ? Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.	4 / 7	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. That places Blue Diamond Growers in the middle of Labor Sovereignty: workers or participants have some protection or agency, but not enough binding power to control the relationship. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1]
Solidarity with the Unemployed ? Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.	4 / 7	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. That places Blue Diamond Growers in the middle of Solidarity with the Unemployed: some access, severance, retraining, openness, or mutual-aid value is present, but it is not central or durable. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1] context Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. [2]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity ? Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.	5 / 7	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. That places Blue Diamond Growers in the middle of Loss-Bearing Fidelity: there is some willingness to preserve obligations, but the record still leaves meaningful risk-shifting concerns. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1] context Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. [2]
Market Conduct ? Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.	4 / 5	Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. That places Blue Diamond Growers high on Market Conduct: pricing, access, switching, and bargaining practices show restraint compared with ordinary rent-seeking competitors. A still-higher or maximum value requires stronger proof that this structure is durable, broad, and not merely discretionary. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. [2] context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1]
Product Integrity ? Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.	5 / 5	Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. That places Blue Diamond Growers high on Product Integrity: the core offering is genuinely useful and comparatively less dependent on traps, degradation, or harmful dependencies. A still-higher or maximum value requires stronger proof that this structure is durable, broad, and not merely discretionary. Linked evidence Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. [2]
Scale Integrity ? Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.	5 / 5	The linked record identifies Blue Diamond as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. Linked evidence context Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand. [1] context Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda. [2] context Almond production in California has a material water and land footprint, so Blue Diamond retains conduct relevant to the Ecological Harm penalty: despite the cooperative producer structure. [3]

Penalties

Penalty	Applied	Why this penalty
Ecological Harm ? Footprint, trajectory, irreversibility, culpability, and scale, including whether ecological harm is central to the model and continued after credible notice. Range: -30 to 0.	-2	Almond production in California has a material water and land footprint, so Blue Diamond retains conduct relevant to the Ecological Harm penalty: despite the cooperative producer structure. Almond production in California has a material water and land footprint, so Blue Diamond retains conduct relevant to the Ecological Harm penalty: despite the cooperative producer structure. That warrants a limited Ecological Harm penalty because the institution causes or defends ecological damage that is more than incidental to the model. The value is limited because the linked record shows a real problem but not one that dominates the profile on this axis. Linked evidence Almond production in California has a material water and land footprint, so Blue Diamond retains conduct relevant to the Ecological Harm penalty: despite the cooperative producer structure. [3]
Policy Capture ? Private-interest attempts to bend law, regulation, subsidies, taxes, enforcement, trade, labor, safety, competition, environmental, healthcare, housing, surveillance, civil-liberties, or consumer policy against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, or ecological life. Public-interest advocacy is not penalized merely because it is lobbying. Range: -15 to 0.	-6	OpenLobby records BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS lobbying on tax, trade, agriculture, budget, labor, food, and other issues with about $1.2M in spending across 27 filings; the reviewed filings… OpenLobby records BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS lobbying on tax, trade, agriculture, budget, labor, food, and other issues with about $1.2M in spending across 27 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. That warrants a substantial Policy Capture penalty because private institutional pressure is being applied to public rules while affected people cannot democratically govern that agenda. The value is substantial but not at the floor because the linked record shows serious conduct without the strongest aggravating factors on this axis. Linked evidence OpenLobby records BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS lobbying on tax, trade, agriculture, budget, labor, food, and other issues with about $1.2M in spending across 27 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. [4]
High-Carbon Products ? Core products, services, financing, or supply chains that materially depend on fossil-fuel combustion, high-emissions transport, industrial animal agriculture, meat, dairy, or other unusually carbon-intensive activity. This is scored separately from general ecological harm so ordinary consumers can see carbon-intensive product exposure directly. Range: -10 to 0.	-1	The product category is food and agriculture, but the profile centers staples, produce, grains, beverages, or baked goods rather than meat or dairy. Linked evidence Blue Diamond Growers has lower-carbon food with residual exposure high-carbon product exposure based on its listed business model and current profile description: A California almond grower cooperative selling mainstream grocery almonds, nut thins, almond flour, and almond beverages under the Blue Diamond brand. Blue Diamond Growers scores well because ownership is comparatively… [5]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

Medium 65/100

5 verified linked claims 5 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 5/12 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 16/20

5 verified linked claims

Source quality 11/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 6/18

5 direct claims across 12 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 4/10

5/12 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending

VerificationUnverified

ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)

ThoroughnessDeveloped (AI)

Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.

Company responseCompany representatives can submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or reviewer authority.

Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

1Blue Diamond describes itself as a cooperative of California almond growers with grower ownership behind the brand.

Ownership Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 10, 2026

AI scaffold

Blue Diamond Growers AboutOfficial self-description · 68%

2Blue Diamond sells almonds, almond flour, almond crackers, and almond beverages through mainstream grocery channels, making its core offering a staple nut crop rather than candy or soda.

Product Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 10, 2026

AI scaffold

Blue Diamond productsGeneral web source · 58%

3Almond production in California has a material water and land footprint, so Blue Diamond retains conduct relevant to the Ecological Harm penalty: despite the cooperative producer structure.

Ecological Harm Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 10, 2026

AI scaffold

Blue Diamond sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

4OpenLobby records BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS lobbying on tax, trade, agriculture, budget, labor, food, and other issues with about $1.2M in spending across 27 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role.

Policy Capture Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — BLUE DIAMOND GROWERS lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

5Blue Diamond Growers has lower-carbon food with residual exposure high-carbon product exposure based on its listed business model and current profile description: A California almond grower cooperative selling mainstream grocery almonds, nut thins, almond flour, and almond beverages under the Blue Diamond brand. Blue Diamond Growers scores well because ownership is comparatively…

High Carbon Products Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 11, 2026

Blue Diamond Growers public siteGeneral web source · 58%
Our World in Data: Environmental Impacts of Food ProductionGeneral web source · 58%

Alternatives

Competitors

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