Pistachio lovers may soon be paying the price for California’s scorching spring.
The beloved green nut — already having a major moment among Gen Zers thanks to viral Dubai chocolate bars, cream pastries, frozen yogurt and trendy lattes — is facing a bitter harvest after record-breaking heat devastated farms across the Golden State.
California pistachio growers are staring down hundreds of millions of dollars in losses after extreme temperatures disrupted pollination and damaged crops across the San Joaquin Valley, one of the country’s biggest pistachio-growing regions.
And shoppers could soon feel the pain at the checkout aisle.
Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, the world’s largest pistachio grower, warned that prices will rise as the industry absorbs the hit — though the company said it’s trying to keep the increase from going nuts.
“This is a measured adjustment to maintain stability across the category while supporting growers behind it,” Michael Hohmann, chief financial officer and executive vice president of Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds, said in a press release this week.
“The price that consumers are going to see will not be as significant as what the farmers will have lost.”
The pistachio punch came courtesy of a brutal March heat wave, when temperatures across the San Joaquin Valley soared into the mid-90s and threw the crop’s delicate love story off track.
Unlike many crops that rely on bees, pistachio trees get by with a little help from the wind — but this year, as per the Fresno Bee, the heat rushed the process.
Male flowers sent pollen flying before their female counterparts were ready for their close-up, leaving farmers with fewer nuts to crack.
“During critical points in pistachio bloom,” the extreme temperatures disrupted pollination and led to poor nut development, Kern County Assistant Agriculture Commissioner Cerise Montanio told SFGATE.
The result? A shell shock for California’s pistachio industry.
The heat wave didn’t just singe the trees — it torched growers’ bottom lines.
Farmers across Fresno, Kern and Tulare counties are staring at a combined $800 million loss across more than 337,000 damaged acres, according to reports.
Kern County got hit especially hard, with growers losing 56% of their expected pistachio production — a roughly $396 million gut punch that prompted the county to request a disaster declaration.
Fresno County was also left shell-shocked, with an estimated $400 million drop in expected nut production, according to deputy agriculture commissioner Mandy Zito.
California’s pistachio industry is no small snack.
The state produces roughly 99% of the nation’s pistachios, with most farms concentrated in the hot, dry San Joaquin Valley.
The industry is valued at around $3 billion — and this year’s harvest could be one of the smallest in years.
Analysts have warned that production could fall below 1 billion pounds.
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Pistachios have gone from old-school ice cream topping to social media superstar, becoming one of the internet’s hottest flavors.
Viral chocolate bars, pistachio-infused desserts and specialty drinks have turned the once-niche nut into a Zoomer food obsession.
Even Costco’s viral Dubai chocolate craze helped fuel fears of a pistachio shortage last year as shoppers scrambled for the trendy treat.
Now, California’s farmers are trying to keep up with demand while battling a climate curveball.
Wonderful Pistachios, which supplies about 75% of pistachios consumed in the US, has built its empire around California’s Central Valley farms.
The Los Angeles-based brand — owned by billionaire entrepreneurs Stewart and Lynda Resnick’s The Wonderful Company — went from a bulk agricultural operation to a household healthy snack name thanks in part to its iconic 2009 “Get Crackin’” campaign.
By 2020, the company had surpassed $1 billion in annual retail sales, helping turn the once-humble nut into a pantry staple.
But this year, the pistachio party has hit a sour note. Consumers could soon see pricier snacks on shelves, while growers are left counting losses in the hundreds of millions.
