Pistachios: From Easter eggs to panettone, demand is growing – 03/27/2024 – Food

Present in the form of paste, ganache or topping, pistachio is not just remembered as an ice cream flavor. It has achieved favorite status in Easter eggs and even in panettone.

Data from Google Trends confirms the interest among Brazilians. Searches for the nut reached the greatest interest in April 2023 and reached a similar level in December. With Easter approaching, research continues to rise, according to data covering the period of the last five years.

Another proof of favoritism is that the pistachio Easter egg came in eighth place in a ranking of the ten most searched foods on Google last year.

The nut reached the mark of US$8.8 million in imports in Brazil in 2023, equivalent to 608 tons, and had a growth of 97% compared to 2022. The data comes from a study carried out by Vixtra, a foreign trade fintech, based on data made available by the Secretariat of Foreign Trade, and covers the last two decades, starting in 2003.

The three main exporters to Brazil are, in this order: USA with 77.7% (US$ 6.8 million) of exports, followed by Argentina with 18.2% (US$ 1.6 million) and Iran with 4. 1% ($0.4 million).

The latter is part of the history of pistachios, which have Asian origins.

Iranian Nasrin is the cadbanou (equivalent to chef in Farsi) at Amigo do Rei, she cooks in her own home in the south of São Paulo, where she serves Persian cuisine, known for its pistachio dishes.

On your establishment’s menu there is the ranguinak dessert, which consists of dates stuffed with walnuts, covered in a cereal dough with spices and a pinch of powdered pistachios. Nasrin says the pistachio cake is also a hit with customers.

She has lived in Brazil since 1991 and states that when she arrived here, no one knew what pistachios were. They thought it looked like peanuts, she says.

Nasrin says pistachios come in a similar variety of types to bananas. “There are plantains, dwarf bananas. In Iran, there are pistachios with a larger mass, a milder taste or more oil”, says the chef, who considers Iranian pistachios to be the best in the world.

The color of this nut is not the green we are used to, but rather a yellowish green, which for Nasrin would be real pistachio. “In Iran, we eat this fresh pistachio, it has no salt or sugar, completely natural.”

Pistachio fashion is here to stay?

For Salvador Lettieri, executive chef of pâtisserie and boulangerie at Instituto Le Cordon Bleu in São Paulo, this boom is not temporary, especially because there is a demand for good quality pistachio products, different from the past.

Lettieri states that, four years ago, the most common pistachio paste on the market was made with coloring, sugar and some broken pistachios or essences. “For the person eating it, there was no difference. It didn’t have a characteristic pistachio flavor. There was a sweet taste and nothing more, an artificial flavor”, says the chef.

The current scenario is different, and as an example he cites Bacio di Latte. “The brand stood out in the gelato market, in shopping malls and in supermarkets. When you taste a pistachio gelato, its reference was something sweet and colorful, you think: ‘I wasn’t eating pistachios. This is pistachios’. people have more access to a product that is more democratized”, says Lettieri.

Chocolate, gelato and pâtisserie producers are now encouraged to work more with this quality product. Something that marks a time when people are more willing to pay for quality, says the chef.

Brands are jumping on the pistachio trend

Bacio di Latte’s heart flavor is pistachio, according to Fábio Medeiros, the brand’s marketing director. In August last year, the ice cream shop held a festival with ice cream and sweets made with pistachios, and offers various products containing the nut, such as pavé and chocolates.

“The event lasted two months, and we realized that we were really part of a fever that was already happening, but we understand that we boosted it even more by bringing other flavors such as a special cone and milkshake”, says Medeiros.

To continue on the nut trend, this year the company launched for the first time a spoon egg for Easter made with white chocolate shell, filled with cream and pistachio topping.

The egg costs R$ 128.00 and, according to Medeiros, they are not keeping up with the sales volume, so much so that in some store units in SP (such as in República or Perdizes) there is no availability of the product for ordering by delivery at Ifood.

“Unlike hazelnuts and giandujas, pistachios have a balance between sweet and salty as well. This is a sensorial experience that people really value,” says Medeiros.

With the LaNut Pistache egg (R$ 129.99), Cacau Show joined the trend last year. It worked, so much so that the company is the second top topic related to pistachios in the Google Trends search. Due to its success, the company transformed this egg into a chocolate bar.

“[Tivemos] the very positive feedback from our consumers regarding the LaNut Pistache egg and we launched the pistachio bar precisely to be a product available all year round, and not just seasonally”, says Lilian Rodrigues, marketing director at Cacau Show.

This year, the company launched the Duo Gourmet (R$ 84.99), which are two milk chocolate shells filled with pistachio cream, roasted pistachios with gianduja and caramelized almonds.

“The reality is that Brazilians discovered pistachios and haven’t let go. Because it’s the flavor of the moment, everyone is craving pistachio products,” says Rodrigues.