Despite being unreasonably expensive (and often difficult to crack open), people are going gaga for pistachios.
What happened: Searches for “pistachio” have more than doubled on Yelp over the past year, according to new data, with “pistachio latte” up 128% and “pistachio chocolate” skyrocketing nearly 9,000%.
- Pinterest and Google Trends have seen similar spikes, with searches for pistachio butter up 240%.
- Brands like Starbucks, Häagen-Dazs, and Lindt have also leaned into the craze with lines of pistachio drinks, ice cream flavours, and chocolates.
Why it matters: When food trends go viral, prices tend to jump (think post-avocado-toast boom prices). Pistachio halves now cost 17% more than they did a year ago, with California farmers — now the world’s top producer of the nuts — essentially able to name their price.
- Some food trend experts think pistachio could very well be the next pumpkin spice, a once-niche flavour that Starbucks spun into a roughly US$500 million-a-year business.
Zoom out: It’s not just the food world that’s obsessed with the trendy nut right now. The pistachio green aesthetic has seeped into everything from home decor to fashion runways to perfumes.—LA