-January 2,2022-
The Valley’s” pistachio wars” pitting industry leader Wonderful Pistachios vs local company Touchstone continue now for about 4-years running. Fresno’s Touchstone Pistachios remains stalled on their 2018 plan to build a large 49-silo processing plant near Hwy 33 after a series of CEQA environmental challenges by rival Wonderful. The plant was expected to be operating by now but instead Touchstone, stalled in Fresno County, is counting on a site in Tulare County to process the growing volume of pistachio nuts being grown in the Valley.Touchstone got some good news in Tulare County when a county judge ruled in November against Wonderful in their effort to halt new construction at rival Touchstone’s plant in Terra Bella.
Touchstone alleges that like in the Fresno County case, Wonderful is suing by using environmental laws to stifle competition. Wonderful appeared to be carrying on their commercial dispute with Touchstone who used to do business with Wonderful but is now on their own.
The judge pointed out that Wonderful didn’t challenge the building or operation of the Terra Bella plant when it was originally built in 1996 by ARO Pistachios. Instead, the company waited until the plant was purchased by Touchstone.
The Tulare County plant, when originally built, had just 4 storage silos. Today, owned by Touchstone, it sports 20 silos and now as of January 2022 the company has filed a plan to add another 16 for a total 36 silos.The “Minor Modification” application to the county says “There will be no expansion of the project site. The intent of the applicant is to increase efficiency for the existing use.”
Processors need to add processing capacity and silos in the Valley as growers continue to plant 30,000 acres of new trees annually, says Bob Klein of the Administrative Committee for Pistachios. This year’s crop tops one billion pounds.
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Touchstone Pistachios Tulare County plant looking to expand