Name: Boosted by Dubai chocolate craze, Argentina bets on pistachios
Uploaded: 2025-12-05T02:48:56.133Z
Duration: 2 min 52 s
Description: In Argentina’s rapidly growing pistachio heartland, rows of trees bearing the ripening yellow fruit dot the dry landscape, a sign of how this agricultural region is striving to capitalize on its favorable climate to cash in on worldwide demand for the nut.

In Argentina’s rapidly growing pistachio heartland, rows of trees bearing the ripening yellow fruit dot the dry landscape, a sign of how this agricultural region is striving to capitalize on its favorable climate to cash in on worldwide demand for the nut.

San Juan

Argentina is leveraging its favorable climate and expanding acreage to meet rising global demand for pistachios, a trend accelerated by the viral popularity of pistachio-filled 'Dubai chocolate' treats on social media. The country's pistachio acreage has quintupled in five years, with most production centered in San Juan province, and local entrepreneurs believe Argentina could become a leading exporter if investment and political conditions improve.

Producers are diversifying into new pistachio-based products, and some are shifting away from traditional crops such as wine grapes in response to changing global consumption patterns. Companies like Pistay have significantly increased their production of pistachio rootstocks, reflecting confidence in the sector's growth potential.

Boosted by 'Dubai chocolate' craze, Argentina bets on pistachios

Argentina is striving to capitalize on its favorable climate to cash in on a growing worldwide demand for pistachios. Fueled in part by a TikTok trend around pistachio filled treats known as Dubai Chocolate. According to one study, Argentina's pistachio acreage has quintupled in the last five years to about 25, 000 acres. Most are in San Juan, a mining and farming province nestled against the Andes Mountains. And producers like Alberto Aguilera say Argentina could be an important exporter that rivals the U.S., Iran and Turkey, the world's top pistachio growers. Argentina can definitely become a major producer. What entrepreneurs need are conditions to come and invest, basically credits and political conditions in Argentina, because these are large investments, important investments. But here you have the land, water and climate conditions for Argentina to have 60,000, 80,000 hectares, 100,000 hectares between San Juan and Mendoza planted with pistachios. With the growing popularity of pistachios spurred by the Dubai Chocolate trend, which went viral on TikTok in 2023, companies in Argentina have branched out to produce other pistachio sweets, including cookies. Pistachios take about seven years from planting to bear significant fruit and need arid, hot summers and chilly winters. Iranian immigrant Marcelo Igani says when he planted the country's first pistachio crop in the 1980s in San Juan province, people were skeptical. People said I was crazy. And well, it gives you more strength to prove that I'm not crazy. So one becomes more attached to doing what they were doing. I was absolutely certain, certain that it was the right path, but people didn't understand it. His company, Pistay, is growing quickly. It produces root stalks, the very beginnings of pistachio trees, which it uses itself or sells to other farmers. Since 2023, Pistay has more than doubled the root stock it produces annually. He's expecting 400,000 plants in 2025. In San Juan province, pistachio trees have the third highest acreage of any agricultural product in the world. Faced with falling global wine consumption, some producers have replaced their vineyards with pistachios and other nuts, including almonds and walnuts.

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