You could be forgiven for thinking you’d walked into Oz: in the past couple of years, the whole world has gone green. Pale green, to be precise. Suddenly, pistachio is everywhere: it’s in our pastries, our chocolate, our coffees, our puddings, and even showing up in perfumes, paint charts, scented candles and on our fashion runways.
Where has this sudden lust for pistachio come from? In one way, pistachios are old news: they’re an ancient crop that has grown in the Middle East and been used as an ingredient in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cookery for as long as can be remembered. They’re even referred to in Genesis: ‘Take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man: a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts and almonds.’ So why are they suddenly the ingredient of the moment?
Both Marks & Spencer and Starbucks have added pistachio-flavoured coffees to their 2025 menus (joining Caffé Nero who had introduced a similar offering already). M&S have also launched miniature pistachio-rolled eggs – and shoppers aren’t waiting around until Easter, already hailing them the ‘product of the year’. Other, bigger pistachio chocolate eggs line the supermarket aisles, jostling to boast the greenest possible packaging. Aldi and Lidl have both produced pistachio cremes for their luxury lines; Waitrose has its own pistachio tiramisu. John Lewis has named pistachio its ‘colour of the season’ and is soon to launch its Leckford tableware range in the shade. The colour has also been enjoying a moment in the literal spotlight on red
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