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The sales crisis for red wines is forcing more and more winegrowers to diversify. In the Var department in south-east France, the two winegrowers Hugues Chaboud and Thomas Paul have been growing pistachios instead of wine with their "Pépistach" nursery since 2017.
"The thought of being dependent on just one agricultural crop in the event of a market downturn or production problems worried us," says Hugues Chaboud. Since founding Pépistach, Chaboud and Paul and their partners, many of whom are winegrowers, have planted up to 80 hectares of pistachio trees every year. With a turnover of around 12,000 euros per hectare, the planting pays for itself after three years. The Occitanie region finances part of the planting costs.
Pépistach leaves the mass market for snack pistachios, which are traded at between four and six euros per kilogramme, to the large producing countries such as California, Spain and Iran. Instead, they concentrate on the niche market for shelled green pistachios, which are mainly produced in Iran and not at all in the USA. Customers for these high-quality fruits are chocolatiers, confectioners and ice-cream makers. Shelled green pistachios fetch a price of between 22 and 28 euros per kilo. Around 1,500 tonnes of them are consumed every year in France alone, and 500 tonnes in the rest of Europe.
Particularly strict requirements apply to the green shelled pistachios, which requires special processing. Chaboud and Paul want to open the first suitable production facility in France in 2025 in order to be able to control the entire value chain. As soon as this workshop is up and running, Pépistach wants to offer producers long-term purchase agreements and take over the marketing.
(al / Source: vitisphere)