Pricing on pistachios has strengthened. "We've moved up about 10 percent from the opening price because demand is so strong," says Jim Zion of Meridian Growers. "Pistachio pricing, unlike almond pricing, tends to be stable but it's increased. Kernel prices have stayed pretty stable. They moved up last year on the shorter supply."
© Meridian Growers
Part of this of course is due to strong demand for pistachios, thanks to factors such as the health messaging around the nut as well as the Dubai Chocolate effect. Dubai Chocolate is a viral product which features pistachios as a key ingredient. "We're trying to add in more capacity to keep up with the kernel demand and we're partnering with a pistachio paste company. The volume of paste that we're moving, we're having to expand because of it. Between ice cream companies, confectionery companies, baking companies, beverage companies, everybody wants pistachio paste," says Zion.
In all, he estimates that most processors have sold between 50-60 percent of the crop so far. On top of good domestic demand, demand is also particularly strong in Europe but also strengthening in Mexico and South America. "Asia has also been decent–we've had pretty good movement into China–and there are some bright spots in Taiwan and Korea," he says.
At the same time, there's more pressure on the U.S. pistachio crop this year because the Turkish crop is severely damaged by frost and it's believed that the Iranian crop, which was estimated to be about 200,000 metric tons, is actually around 140,000-150,000 metric tons due to frost issues and concerns over drought.
© Meridian Growers
2025 pistachio growing conditions
As for the U.S. crop, it's believed to be slightly under the initial 1.6 billion lbs. estimated. The 2024 crop also had a low carry in so in total supply, Zion notes it's not too far ahead of its reserve from last year. "The growing conditions were good this year," he says, noting there were three rain events this year and the third event brought on issues with the timing of the crop. "The quality is decent but I wouldn't call this a vintage crop like we had last year and the previous year. It's a good crop but we are going to have some issues with the last part of the crop. That product may have to be shelled out allowing us to do further inspection and sorting."
While the season also started earlier than last year, around mid-August, harvest was stretched out due to cooler temperatures and rain. Meridian Growers brought product in until October 23rd, which is one of the longest harvest periods it's had in recent memory.
© Meridian Growers
The management of this year's crop will be an ongoing concern given the fact that pistachios are also an alternate-bearing crop so next year's crop size is anticipated to be down. "That puts pressure on the remaining inventory this year to carry some stuff over to keep up with demand," says Zion. "We've slowed down a bit on sales because we're looking at our remaining inventory and what we need to cover existing customers, plus a few new ones, and what we're going to have to carry into next year. Everybody's making the same calculations. We're encouraging buyers to give us their remaining needs for the year to see what we can do to cover them."
For more information:
Jim Zion
Meridian Growers
[email protected]
https://www.meridiangrowers.com/
