Crocs sold worldwide

California almond production and global Crocs sales, both climbing. Two completely unrelated American agricultural and footwear stories, sharing a window because the same eighteen years rewarded both a Central Valley crop and a foam clog company. The 2010s were broad-minded.

California almond production roughly doubled across this window as growers replanted to higher-density orchards and the global plant-milk and snack-nut boom drove demand. Crocs sales grew from a few million pairs in 2005 to over 130 million by 2022 as the brand recovered from its mid-2010s near-bankruptcy through clever licensing collaborations and the post-2020 ugly-shoe-aesthetic comeback. Two completely unrelated growth stories sharing a window because the same eighteen years rewarded both a Mediterranean-style nut crop and a polarising shoe brand.

Two unlikely industries both compounded. The almond and the foam clog, both more numerous than seemed plausible.