Staying Ahead of Pistachio Demand

California pistachios are desired around the world and the industry is trying to stay well ahead of that demand.

Jimmy Valov is a pistachio grower and Kings into Tulare Counties. He noted that you don't want to come up short on demand. You've got to always stay ahead of it.

“That's correct. Yeah, we got to stay ahead of it. And that's why we need to always look a year or two, if not three years ahead of time to make sure we have a home for all of these pistachios.,” Valov said. “You know, we had a little hiccup with the tarriff, but somehow or another it's, it's getting over there anyway. And once people have California pistachios, it's kind of hard to go back to Iranian pistachios,” Valov noted.

“They're wanting them and we’re telling them, we've got places for them to go. I mean, we went to Europe and really opened up that market there,” Valov said.

And Europe continues to be very robust in pistachios. Also India is a now big market

“It’s a huge market. So that's another thing, but you know, everyone has their problems, you know, but they say they don't have enough pistachios, believe it or not,” Valov said. “So people ask me if we should keep planting. I just planted to another 300 acres last year. So I'm still gung ho on them. You know I mean, it's not like something is wrong with planting pistachios,” noted Valov said.

“I think we've got another four to five or six more years before we start seeing a decrease in prices. But if the demand keeps picking up, you know, we just don't have enough nuts to sell, we don't have enough pistachios grown in California,” Valov said.