pistachio

The pistachio has provided work for 200,000 people and needs 100,000 more

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Few economic success stories have grown as quickly and as strongly as that of what is, without a doubt, the fashionable dried fruit: the pistachio. This dried fruit has become the protagonist of an unprecedented nutritional phenomenon, becoming the star of the toppings and ally of the most diverse desserts that go viral on Instagram. However, thanks to that unexpected popularitythe cultivation of pistachios is generating thousands of jobs and revitalizing regions of the country that for years had seen their population slowly decline. The pistachio is unleashed. According to the report ‘Present and future of pistachio cultivation and its processing. From a business perspective’ prepared for Agróptimum, the pistachio industry has registered spectacular growth. Only in the last decade its expansion exceeds 3,000%, consolidating itself as one of the largest agricultural surprises of recent years in Spain. The rise of this crop not only responds to international demand, but also to the push of new local producers and cooperatives that, given their adaptation to climatic conditions and its high profitabilityhave discovered a product that allows them to maintain agricultural activity. An employment engine. According to the data in the report, currently the pistachio production chain is generating more than 200,000 jobs throughout the country, including both direct and indirect jobs. This figure includes positions ranging from cultivation and field care tasks to jobs in genetic research, data programming for precision agriculture, and distribution and export tasks. From the consulting firm Agróptimum, they estimate that this wave will continue to grow, and about 100,000 additional jobs will be created in the next five years, especially in those areas related to new plantations and in the process of modernization of the sector. Pistachio is not the only thing that takes root. The data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, show that 61% of the irrigated pistachio area registered in 2024 was newly planted, along with 70% of the dry land area that was also beginning its cultivation activity. Most of these new pistachio plantations are being developed in areas recognized for their risk of depopulation, such as Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura or Andalusia. The arrival of the pistachio to these regions has meant an injection of employment that contributes to anchoring the young population in these territories and makes it possible to attract new neighbors with new business projects linked to the cultivation of this nut. Castilla-La Mancha as a pistachio superpower. The most striking growth of this type of crop has occurred in Castilla-La Mancha, where it is concentrated around the 80% of the national surface of cultivated land dedicated to pistachio, achieving a harvest of more than 5,600 tons in 2025. 75% of the national total of 7,500 tons. In this community, the planted area already exceeds 64,000 hectares in its different types of dryland and irrigated land, with a significant expansion year after year and a growing focus on organic production, which represents approximately 36% of all pistachios cultivated. An industry with global projection. According what was published by The EconomistSpain is consolidating itself as a European producer in the production of pistachio. At the moment, the Spanish pistachio market represents around 0.7% of world production, and Spain imports pistachios from the US and Iran. However, these harvests occur in a context in which the plantations are still young and their productivity is limited. He sector esteem that in a few years these plantations will reach cruising speed and the volume will be multiplied of a very good quality product that will have the EU countries as its main destinations. In Xataka | The best pistachio, the one from Madrid: this is how the capital of Spain wants to become the capital of nuts Image | Unsplash (Alexa Soh, Agroptium)

In Castilla-La Mancha there is an unexpected crop that lives a record campaign and quadruple production: the pistachio

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The pistachio is more than a tasty dry fruit. It is also a millmillonary business and in full expansion that, according to The forecasts Data Bridge will exceed 5.8 billion dollars worldwide in less than a decade. In Spain (especially Castilla-La Mancha) Farmers They have noticed of that potential and are dedicating hectares and more hectares of field. Now the Castellanomanchegas cooperatives leave us a clue for how forceful that expansion is being: they expect this campaign to be their production spray records, multiplying by four The results of last exercise. One more test of the Pistachization of the fields. A fact: 8,900 tons. If the forecasts of the sector are met, 2025 will be a good year for the Spanish pistachio. Well no, great. At least if we talk about production. On Wednesday agro-food cooperatives Castilla-La Mancha (an organization that brings together almost 600 organizations of the region) revealed that this campaign expects to reap some 8,900 tons of fruit, which would far exceed the production level of last year and give a new sample of the accelerated rhythm to which They expand The pistachmen for the Castellanoleon field. Does it increase so much? Yeah. According to the agency Agrícola those 8,900 tons would quote the production of last year, which encrypts in just over 2,200. Moreover, community cooperatives already speak of “the greatest registered pistachio harvest to date” in their territory. They also hope that much of the fruits will be “high caliber and quality” and leave ecological farms. The Government of Castilla-La Mancha Calculate That in 2023 the dry pistachio harvest with shell reached 5,580 T in its territory, almost 75% of national production. Even taking that data as a reference, higher than 2024the increase provided by farmers for the current harvest would be remarkable. Why is it important? So it reveals to us about the sector and how it expands in the region. It is not strange that the volume of production dance from one campaign to another, sometimes increasing and in others decreasing. Just a year ago, for example, Castilla-La Mancha cooperatives were waiting for a “prick” in the amount of fruit collected (in November the forecasts pointed to about 4,900 tons of dry pistachio) due to the window character of the trees. Even so that cooperatives foresee that production quadruples this campaign, leaving a result that is promised historical, reveals an increasingly evident trend in Castilla-La Mancha: the growing weight pistachio plantations in the region. Figures on the margin, arrives with a walk through the Province of Toledo To observe how hectares of land that until recently they were dedicated to cereals or grass have been converted into plantations focused on the pistachio. Another figure: 64,400 hectares. The organization has shared Some figures that help to better understand that expansion. According to the spokesman of the Sectorial Commission, Ignacio Lobato, the surface of pistachio planted in Castilla-La Mancha has reached this year the 64,400 hectares. Of these are “in production” 16,400, the vast majority (12,215 ha) in dry land. In fact, the harvest increase this year is explained by the “input into production” of 5,550 ha. “This expansion of the surface in production represents a significant increase of 40% compared to the previous year, which is estimated there were 11,700 ha in production,” insists The professional group. It is not an exclusive phenomenon of the Manchega region. Recently Agroptium published A report That the increase in the surface dedicated to cultivation in Spain as a whole: from 15,000 ha in 2016, it went to 70,000 in 2022 and almost 78,500 in 2023. Earrings of Castilla-La Mancha. The forecasts of Castilla-La Mancha import because the region has managed to make a fundamental foothold in the pistacher sector nationally and internationally, even sneaking Among the main ones Pistacheras del Mundo areas. The data of the autonomous government show that the region brings together around 80% of the total area dedicated to pistachio plantations in the country and that at least 2023 concentrated almost 75% of the production: 5,580 t of dry fruit with a shell of the 7,550 t shelter of the whole of Spain. Images | Jake Belluci (Flickr) In Xataka | Dubai chocolate fever has had an unexpected effect: it has dynamited the world pistachio market

It is increasingly easy to see from the road a crop that had never been dominant in Spain: the pistachio

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Its production volume is still far (far) from which the US, Iran or Türkiye, the heavyweights of the sector, but Spain is increasingly A pistachio country. And it has all the meaning that is so. Your cultivation adapts well to certain regions From the Iberian Peninsula and above all it offers background penguins to farmers, who have been planting hectares and more hectares of pistachers for years, hoping to cover a global market In full expansion. “Many people have opted for this crop as a substitute for others less profitable, such as cereal,” They recognized Recently from the sector. Pistacho “Made in Spain”. If it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, Castilla-La Mancha It probably leaves the best reflects the accelerated expansion of the pistachio cultivation in Spain. A walk comes through the province of Toledo to see hectares of soil that until not so ago they were dedicated to cereals or the grass of cattle and have now been converted into pistachio plantations. Castilla-La Mancha agglutina more than 80% of the national surface and production of the fruit and has achieved put on the top 5 of the great pistache regions of the world. A few days ago, in a forum dedicated precisely to the pistachio, the regional government explained that the community already dedicates about 65,000 hectares to its cultivation and in 2023 reached the 5,600 tons of dry fruit with peel. A figure: 78,500 ha. To understand how the speed has extended pistachio plantations in Spain, it is good to take a look at the report that the agricultural group dedicated last year Agrouptimum: If in 2016 there were barely 15,000 hectares dedicated to its cultivation, in 2022 that surface was already risen to 70,000 and in 2023 it touched 78,500, 68% in the dry land. Last season it is estimated that the 79,200 hawhich explains that the pistachio monopolizes 10.3% of the soil dedicated to producing nuts in Spain. “Win by win”. The success of the pistachio among farmers, especially Castilla-La Mancha, is explained for a very simple reason: his juicy profits. He was openly recognized recently Juan Gallego Arroyo, founder of the Iberopistacho group, to electionomista.es: With gross bottling per hectare that leave a profitability between 10 and 20%, the pistachio is much more attractive to farmers than other traditional crops, including cereals. “The pistachio wins by a win in terms of profitability within the crops in open and permanent. The comparison is with the olive tree, the almond or the vine, for example,” Clarify Galician. Translated into figures and according to the data handled by the manager, “with the pistachio plantations a gross hectare turnover is being achieved that can reach up to 12,000 euros in the case of using irrigation. In the case of dry dryland, we are between 5,000 and 6,000.” “Very profitable alternative”. He is not the only one who has drawn attention to the benefits of this fruit, increasingly demadiated. In 2022 Balam Agriculture made A balance of the most profitable crops of the year looking for the income, expenses, investment and risks assumed. The list was listed by the plantations of olive groves, those of Almendros and (exact) those of pistacheros, which despite requiring a notable initial investment offers benefits and profitability in the medium term. “Its high sale price, close to € 6/kg (with average production of 1,000 kg), as well as the increase in demand for this product, make it a very profitable alternative,” Balam stands out. In optimal conditions, with intensive irrigation and in ecological pistachio crops, electionomista.es Precise that the annual income generated per hectare can even be higher and move between 8,000 and 10,000 euros. The final net profit is lower, but depending on the case, it ranges between 1,200 and more than 10,000. A millionaire market. Although Spain is betting on the pistachio its production is far from what they reach Heavyweights of the cultivation, the USA, Iran and Türkiye, that a large part of the cake of a millionaire and growing business are distributed. Data Bridge estimates that market size reached 4,350 million of dollars in 2024 and will continue to grow to exceed 5,800 in a few years. There are consultants convinced that It won’t take long In passing that figure. With that backdrop, Spain and more specifically regions Like Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Extremadura, Aragon, Castilla y León or Catalonia, they are positioning themselves to participate in that world cake and The increase of domestic demand. “The evolution of pistachio cultivation in recent years has been very large,” Recognize To Efeagro Mario González, from Pistachopro. “Many people have opted for this crop as replacement for others less profitable.” Images | USDA (Flickr), Marcos Paulo Prado (UNSPLASH) and Brad Spry (Flickr) In Xataka | For more than a thousand years Spain was a world power in pistachio production. Then disappeared completely

The pistachio market has broken

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He pistachio It is news. And it is told of something that a priori has little to do with the fields of the United States, Iran or Türkiye in which it is cultivated: the viral success of A chocolate prepared in Arab Emirates. It sounds like gallimaties, but that is the peculiar situation with which companies in the sector are now. As the Dubai chocolate (A sweet basically made with cocoa and pistachio) gains fame worldwide, the demand for this last fruit has shot up until reduce your stock and shoot prices. “It’s basically exhausted,” companies warn. A viral chocolate. Dubai chocolate has two different birth dates. One is that of its launch, In 2021when the Emiratí Fix dessert chocolatier decided to combine cocoa, pistachos and Kadayif Turk on the same tablet. The second is December 2023, date on which A video of Tiktok which already exceeds 124 million views (and growing) made it a viral phenomenon. From that moment and despite the fact that their ounces are not exactly cheap, Dubai chocolate unleashed a real fever and became an object coveted by the Foodies. Pulling the market. Such was its commercial success that Dubai chocolate inspired home versions … and imitations. One of the most popular (or at least media) was presented just a month ago by the Lidl supermarket chain. Its tablets, made by JD Gross, its “Premium Chocolates” brand, cost 4.49 euros (quite less of those popularized by Fix) and launched as part of a limited edition that was sold only for a few days. The result: queues, a delusional sales rhythm (there is talk of an average of 72 tablets dispatched per minute on the Tiktok channel) and resale in Vind At triggered prices. @Mariavehera257 @fixessertchocolatier wow, Just Wow !!! Can’t explain How Good these are! When chocolate, dessert and on Piece of Art Meet This is What You Get! 🍫 “Can’t Get Knafeh of It,” “Mind Your Own Busicoff,” and “Crazy Over Caramel.” Order on Instagram Chatfood or Deliveroo and Let Me Know What’s Your Fix? Instagram: Fixessertchocolatier #ASMR #FoodSounds #Dubai #Dubaidessert ♬ оригrian And the pistachio broke. The sale of imitations, the viral videos of Tiktok and the resale at exorbitant prices in Vinted were not the only consequences of the chocolate fever. Another place where it has been felt (and with forcefulness) is the world pistachio industry. I told it a few days ago Financial Times in An article In which he explains that the demand for Dubai’s tablets has fully impacting the supplies of this fruit, aggravating his world’s shortage and shooting his prices. As proof, it provides a data revealed by the Chicking Ch Hacking company, based in the United Kingdom: if a few years ago the pistachio pound was paid at $ 7.65, right now that same amount is quoted at $ 10.30. “Practically exhausted”. The phrase It is of Giles Hacking, of CG Hacking, and clearly and concisely describes the situation that, in his opinion, is going through the industry: “The pistachio market is practically exhausted at the moment.” To understand how the sector has reached that point, nevertheless we must go beyond the tablets created by Fix Dessert. Before the Emiratí firm broke the market with its Dubai chocolate, the companies already dealt with a domestic waning stock caused by last year’s bad harvests in the US, the main exporter of the fruit. As if that were not enough, the quality of the grain led to the amount of cheap pistachio and without peel that is usually sold to make tablets. In summary: a scenario not easy for chocolateras. “The rest of the world was short”. Hacking Recognize That the starting point for the industry was no longer good, with a modest pistachio offer, and the situation had just complicated with the chocolate boom. “When the Dubai arrives and the chocolateros buy all the grains that fall in their hands the rest of the world falls short,” remember. The data of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) show that the US is by far the main supplier of pistachios in the world. In 2024/2025 a total of 503,230 metric tons attributed, about 43% of world production. The second place, with 33%, is occupied by Türkiye, followed by Iran (17%), Syria (5%) and the EU (3%). Statista data They reflect that during the year 2023/2024 the US weight in the global market was even greater. The other focus: Iran. Financial Times Point out That pistachio offer in California was reduced by around 20% in a year, just in the 12 months prior to February. The US is, however, the only country that has given signs that the pistachio distribution chain has tensioned coinciding with Dubai chocolate fever. Iran, another heavyweight in the dry fruit market, has also seen how its market experienced draft changes. In the six months prior to March 2025, the country exported 40% more pistachios to the United Arab Emirates than throughout the previous 12 months, according to the Iranian customs service records. The photograph is quite different from that of the sector in 2023, when the world supply of grain exceeded demand and ended up shaking prices. A challenge (more). The truth is that pistachio scarcity coinciding with the Dubai chocolate boom, the elaboration of homemade versions, the sale of commercial imitations and even the appearance of new products that incorporate the fruit (the supermarket chain WM Morrison He has launched Easter eggs with pistachio cream), adds a new headache for the chocolate industry. The Lidia sector for a long time with its particular cocoa crisiswhich has affected to stock and pricesand now also faces the effects of the commercial war and the crossing of tariffs between the US and the rest of the nations. Images | Flickr and Brenan Greene (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | The best pistachio, that of Madrid: this is how the capital of Spain wants to become the capital of the dry fruit

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