Spain’s Delegate at the World Nut Council Pistachio Roundtable:Spain’s Pistachio Market — Current Situation and Future Potential

Helena Solana — Spain possesses a small market currently in the pistachio industry, but in the near future it will be a major European supplier. The planted area of pistachios in Spain is 84,000 hectares, of which around 22,000 hectares are suitable for cultivation. Nearly half of the productive planted area is made up of mature trees aged more than 9 years. Estimates project that within the next 3 to 5 years, most of these orchards will be fully at production and production will increase significantly further.

Spain has rain-fed as well as irrigated orchards, and thus the variation in the yield per hectare. Spain’s pistachio production for the next crop year (2024-2025) is going to grow more than 100% compared to the previous year to reach 10,000 tons. Our estimate is that by 2029, the production would touch 20,000 tons equivalent to more than 10% of Europe’s consumption of pistachios.

Approximately 70% of Spanish pistachio production is exported mainly to Europe, with Italy being its largest purchaser, partly due to the well-developed processing industry on Sicilian island. Spanish pistachios are marketed as raw material for food as well as snack nuts. A lot of it is also cultivated organically — approximately 60% of Spanish pistachio production is organic, and that requires special attention.

The commercial and structured development of this industry is in line with the assistance of institutions like the European Pistachio Council (EPC), which is crucial for export increases and productivity.

Over the next five years, Spain will become one of the prime suppliers of the European Union. Over the next five years, the pistachio crop being developed in the country will increase manifold. Spain’s pistachio industry is also faced with numerous problems, including the necessity to streamline the industry structure, tariffs, laws, and economic and political conditions.

Source: INC