A staff member (right) promotes Wonderful Pistachios at an event in Daly City, California, on Feb 7. ALEXANDER TAMARGO/GETTY IMAGES
Driven by rising demand for healthy snacks among Chinese consumers, nut growers in California, the United States, are expected to export 111,000 metric tons of pistachios to China in the 2026 crop year (Sept 1, 2026 to Aug 31, 2027), according to a major US industry player.
Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds LLC, or Wonderful Pistachios, the largest pistachio producer by production volume and sales revenue in the US, projected that total California pistachio shipments to China by the company and other growers could reach 110,000 tons in the 2025 crop year (Sept 1, 2025 to Aug 31, 2026), up 3.8 percent from 106,000 tons in the previous crop year.
Anita Lam, managing director for China and chief representative for Asia Pacific at Wonderful Pistachios, said the industry remains confident about the long-term growth potential for Californian pistachios in the Chinese market, and her company will continue leveraging its vertically integrated supply chain and longstanding operations to deepen its presence in the country.
Lam said the Los Angeles-based company is well-positioned to meet growing demand from the Chinese market, backed by more than 500,000 acres (202,300 hectares) of pistachio orchards in California and over $1 billion invested in next-generation processing facilities, while pistachio acreage in the state continues to expand at an annual rate of 6 to 10 percent.
