There is a new culture that is revolutionizing agriculture in the Spanish interior and expectations are high. It can help, in a cost-effective and sustainable way, to stop desertification in rural areas and, moreover, it is not dependent on state subsidies and does not take risks when there are budget cuts. We speak of pistachio, or pistachio, as it is also designated. The Spanish newspaper El Confidencial says it is “the new green gold” and the great hope of Spanish farmers for the coming decades. In Spain there are already more than 12 thousand hectares cultivated with pistachio, mainly in the autonomous community of Castile-Mancha, that gathers 80% of the cultivation and almost all the trees planted in the last years. Pistachio has been viewed as the alternative to cereals with poor production, but the transition is made hectare to hectare, as the newspaper explains, because despite the high expectations, the pistachio is a crop with several particularities. In addition to needing much care, tree growth is slow, takes six to seven years to bear fruit and, in the first two decades, production is reduced.
Also in Portugal the pistachio is seen as an opportunity for the interior of the country. It is recalled that at the end of 2015 a project was presented for the production and export of the dried fruit throughout the interior
Mexico represents an attractive market for the largest producer and processor of pistachios in the world, by its geographical position, and the size of its market, with a value of 35 million dollars, assured the director of Sales of the US Paramount Farms , Horacio del Valley.
Therefore, the main supplier of pistachios and almonds in the world, located in California, chose to establish itself in the country and use it as a platform for “a commercialization and internationalization structure”.
Although there are well-established brands for the consumption of snacks in Mexico, “we think that the consumer wants new alternatives, new products that complement that offer in a healthier way, and we believe that our brand Wonderful Pistachios can forge its own history. we will place about 2,700 tons of pistachios, and we expect to grow our presence 40% annually, to double the business in the country in five years “, added Horacio del Valle.
The executive announced that this year “the company’s investment expectation in Mexico is around 3 million dollars and will be directed to the commercial platform, point of sale and infrastructure because the market conditions tell us that we must be prepared for the demand and product development. ”
The Mexican snack industry is one of the most important economic divisions within the manufacturing industry. Data from the National Chamber of the Transformation Industry (Canacintra) generates 16,000 jobs at the end of 2009, which represented 4.2% of jobs in the food, beverages and tobacco sector .
Wonderful Pistachios , which is 15 months away from being established in Mexico, aims to lead the healthy snack segment, through commercial partnerships with the country’s leading retailers.
Company estimates indicate that 11 million tons of pistachios are sold annually in the Mexican market, the equivalent of about 35 million dollars, of which, in the last 7 months, 60% comes from California, and 40% from East. In the modern channel (self-service) the approximate volume is 2 million tons, which are marketed by small brands and regionally.
At the end of 2008, the annual production of pistachios in Mexico amounted to 20.50 tons, which meant a production value of 1.09 million pesos, according to statistics from the Agri-Food and Fisheries Information Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Development Rural, Fishing and Food.
