Pistachios and Farming Blues

Welcome to 2025 Food Junglers! I hope you all got some good holiday rest and are ready to seize every opportunity in the new year. I certainly am. So, as we always do, let’s dig in.

This week:

🥜 Pistachios are super trendy in California.

🍹 TGI Fridays could be back on the menu.

🥩 China does what it can to protect its beef industry.

🚜 American farmers are not optimistic in 2025.

☕️ An ambitious project in NYC is training refugees…

CLIMATE
PISTACHIOS RISE UP

Pistachios have become a remarkable new addition to the Californian agricultural landscape, generating nearly $3 billion in 2024 for the state and ranking the nut at number six in value out of the over 400 agricultural commodities grown there.

The US has now surpassed Iran, where the nut is native, in the last decade to become the world’s top exporter of pistachios. This is owed almost entirely to California.

The reason for this success seems to be quite simple: pistachios are super sustainable. The nuts are drought-resistant because the trees have deeper roots that can withstand periods of limited water availability.

ZOOMING OUT: As California’s droughts become more frequent, the pistachio boom is a prime example of the relationship between climate and market.

On top of that, pistachio trees take around 7 years to produce decent harvests, so full capacity hasn’t even been reached!

BUSINESS
TGI FRIDAYS COMBACK?

Ray Blanchette, the former chief executive of TGI Fridays, has been chosen as the manager of the bulk of the chain’s restaurants globally, replacing a consulting firm that stepped in after the company defaulted on its debt.

Blanchette served as the company’s CEO between 2018 and 2023 and currently owns seven TGI Fridays through his company, Sugarloaf Hospitality. He is expected to now manage more than 400 of the franchised restaurants worldwide.

Certainly, in the US the situation is bleak with TGI Fridays; the US footprint dwindling to around 150 restaurants from a peak of over 600 in 2008.

ZOOMING OUT: The move marks a new chapter for TGI Fridays following years of declining sales, restaurant closures and more recently disarray in its top executive ranks that culminated in a bankruptcy filing in November 2024.

POLICY
CHINA PROTECTS ITS BEEF

China has announced the initiation of a safeguarding investigation into imported beef products, aiming to assess the impact of increase imports on the country’s domestic beef industry.

Imported beef increased by 106% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2019, which the Chinese government claims has “significantly” damaged China’s domestic industry.

The investigation will apparently aim to protect the “legitimate rights and interests of domestic industries” and will not target any “specific countries or regions”.

ZOOMING OUT: Already, China has identified Brazil – the largest supplier of beef exports to China – as the biggest culprit in flooding international beef into the country, with Brazil exporting over one million tons of bovine meat to China in 2024.   

SUPPLY CHAIN
2025 BLUES FOR US FARMERS

In the wake of a pretty sluggish year for American farmers, the outlook for 2025 doesn’t look much better, as costs for seed, fertiliser, and other inputs have continued to rise.

While supply of certain commodities has certainly been exceptional, the national average break-even price for certain staple foods – from corn to soybeans – is far above previous levels.

In particular, many farmers are worried about Brazil’s aggressive expansion into commodity production, especially soybeans, which could cause oversupply. Put simply, this is not great for farming incomes.

ZOOMING OUT: Things could look even worse if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on his plans to place a 20% tariff on all US imports, with a 60% tariff on Chinese goods. It could potentially be the time for American farmers to plant less to raise prices. 

THE BRIGHT SIDE
LIGHTING THE WAY FORWARD

Despite 2025 starting off on a sour note, there will never be a shortage of inspiring food industry stories that deserve to be told. The first story of the year goes to Kerry Brodie, the founder of Emma’s Torch.

Founded in 2016, Emma’s Torch is a non-profit culinary training centre in Brooklyn, New York, that prepares refugees, survivors of forced migration, or human trafficking for jobs in the restaurant industry.

The training lasts 11 weeks and allows students to earn full-time wages while preparing for a variety of restaurant jobs in the long term. On top of that, the programme includes English language classes.

Emma’s Torch has helped over 400 people gain jobs, has a 90% employment rate, and has helped people from countries, such as Haiti, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Russia and Ukraine. Food Jungle approved ✅ 

BEFORE YOU GO…

• Food prices slipped in December but remained near 19-month highs, driven by cheaper sugar, dairy products and vegetable oils, according to the UN.

• Convoys of farmers set off on Sunday to try to block roads around Paris in protest against what they say is unfair competition from overseas and excessive regulation.

TAKE A BREAK

Hi there everyone! It’s our pleasure to introduce another newsletter in the food space - BETTER BIOECONOMY - from a food technology enthusiast, Eshan Samaranayake.  

Like the team at Food Jungle, Eshan is doing his absolute best to advertise those who are making food healthier, cleaner, more sustainable, more animal-friendly AND accessible to all.

So, if you are interested in reading more on food tech, go check it out! Food Jungle approved ✅