January 2015 American Pistachio Growers eNews

APG and Anheuser-Busch Launch National Promotion Delicious, Healthy Game Day Snacks APG Newest Chef Ambassadors About Using Oil This Year –

By Bob Beede APG Leadership Program Application

American Pistachio Growers is joining forces with Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri, to promote the perfect pairing: the perfect smart snack and the perfect beer for adults with active lifestyles. Starting now and through 2015, pistachio lovers can save up to $6 on the purchase of American Pistachio Growers member-branded pistachios and a 12-pack or larger of Michelob ULTRA superior light beer.

Beginning with the season of New Year’s resolutions - when many commit to health and fitness goals—the joint promotion will run through the football playoffs and the big game, a time of many parties and gatherings. Three additional promotional periods are scheduled for the Fourth of July and Labor Day gatherings, and one to kick-off the fall football season.

“This is our first initiative at point-of-sale to identify and promote pistachios grown and processed by the hundreds of members that make up APG. It is a strong nationwide rollout with a leading retail partner and more than 19,000 stores participating, including supermarkets, mass market retailers and drug stores,” says Judy Hirigoyen, Vice President, Global Marketing. Hirigoyen continues, “This concept was tested successfully in a few states in 2014. Research continues to reveal the health attributes of pistachios, and industry growth confirms they are a popular choice as more Americans are choosing nutritional snacks.”

American Pistachio Growers view the Michelob ULTRA and pistachios partnership as a natural collaboration. The Michelob ULTRA beer line has been long associated with numerous athletic contests, including running and cycling events, PGA Tour golf tournaments and ATP tennis. American Pistachio Growers has teamed with several high-profile athletes like British pro cyclist Mark Cavendish, professional big mountain snowboarder and adventurer Jeremy Jones and pro sports team nutrition managers, and the USA Water Polo’s Men’s and Women’s Teams.

Details of the instant coupons and rebates on a state-by-state basis can be found on the American Pistachio Growers website AmericanPistachios.org.

football program will This year ’s Super Bowl experts Ted Harper, feature APG’s nutrition for the New England Team Sports Dietitian yder, Director of Team Patriots, and Bryan Sn Broncos. The “Snack Nutrition for the Denver e powerful health Like a Pro” ad touts th for football fans and benefits of pistachios active consumers.

When hosting a big game-day party, you plan the food, TV location, seating arrangements and decorations. In the same fashion, Ted Harper, the team sports dietitian of the New England Patriots, meticulously plans the diets of his team members to maximize each player’s performance and recovery.

While your guests probably won’t experience the same hard hits as the players on the field, they still need a healthy diet to battle the stresses of everyday life while maintaining enough energy to cheer their favorite team on to victory. According to Harper, a big part of one’s nutrition plan should include mindful snacking habits. He says, “One very easy way to improve your overall nutrition is to replace some or all of your not-so-wise snacks, like chips, cheese-flavored crackers, sugary ‘fruit snacks,’ pre-made snack cakes, cookies, soda or candy, with something that still tastes good but is full of healthy nutrients. Pistachios are one of the best recommendations I can make because they’re packed with many important nutrients and are very versatile.”

Pistachios contain potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, which can contribute to a lower risk of heart disease. They’re also a great snack to help with weight management and may help lower blood pressure and prevent hypertension, according to studies.

Click here to read more, and view and download Big Game recipes using pistachios.

ing the many APG’s new ad spotlight stachios is nutritional benefits of pi nted and fitness appearing in health-orie e world including publications around th t Life, Men’s Health Runner ’s World, Spor itian and Heart as well as Today’s Diet rounds off our Health Matters. The ad g our athlete arsenal of ads featurin ambassadors.

Consumers looking for fabulous, affordable holiday gifts for their family and friends did not have to look far. Lifestyle expert Lynn Becker traveled the country offering a list of recommendations that included American pistachios.

During the holiday gift-giving season, American pistachios were featured in lifestyle expert Lynn Becker’s Family Holiday Gifts media tour, which took place November 17 through December 9. Lynn Becker appeared on top local TV shows around the country, as well as the nationally syndicated shows including The Daily Buzz, Daytime and Emotional Mojo where she talked about family holiday gift-giving ideas that included American pistachios. The focus of each segment was fabulous, fun, affordable gifts for the entire family.

The clip also appeared on local TV segments such as Atlanta & Company, Atlanta; Connecticut Style, Hartford/New Haven; Eye Opener, Philadelphia; Arizona Midday, Phoenix; Sacramento & Company, Sacramento; San Diego Living, San Diego and Studio 10, Tampa/St. Petersburg, for a total viewership of more than 4 million.

Mark your calendars. February 26 is National Pistachio Day. For those who live abroad it’s called World Pistachio Day. Whatever the name, February 26 is a day for pistachio lovers around the world to celebrate PISTACHIOS, and to eat their favorite nut all day long.

A member of the Professional Association of Italian Chefs (APCI) and instructor at Food Genius Academy in Milan, Stefania Corrado defines herself as a multitasking chef. A native of Turin, she holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and first began working in advertising. Stefania cites a turning point in 2011 with the launch of her blog, 4youfood, reflecting her strong passion for cooking and creating recipes.

Stefania embraces change, finding new ways to cook and tell the story of what she prepares. She uses virtual and real spaces, like a classroom setting. In addition to cooking in private homes as a chef, she works with restaurants and locations in Milan as a guest chef or chef consultant, creating social eating platforms and cultivating new and interactive projects.

Chef Stefania attended APG’s #PistachioHarvest2014 and since then has been busy creating recipes using pistachios. For the Thanksgiving holiday, Chef Stefania created a recipe that reflected her contemporary Mediterranean style, and combined it with the traditional American Thanksgiving dish: “Praline Turkey and Sauce with Chopped American Pistachios and Cranberries.” The recipe appeared in Italy’s top print publications. To view and download the recipe click here.

Famed Spanish chef, Paco Roncero, has joined APG’s team of chef ambassadors. Roncero will call on his culinary creativity in his role as one of APG’s new ambassadors to imagine the best culinary uses for pistachios on menus and as an ingredient.

According to Chef Roncero, “American pistachios are nutritionally very comprehensive because they provide everything needed for a healthy daily diet.”

Along with his two Michelin Stars, Chef Paco Roncero has received numerous gastronomy accolades including Chef l’Avenir 2005, awarded by the International Academy of Gastronomy; the National Gastronomy Award of 2006, of the Spanish Royal Academy, and three Suns of the Guia Repsol for his restaurant La Terraza del Casino. In addition to these awards, Roncero is considered one of the pioneers of Madrid’s and Spain’s vanguard (molecular gastronomy) cuisine. He has taken sensory dining to the next level, and recently opened a new restaurant, Sublimotion, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Ibiza, designed to combine music, lighting and ambience with food in a way that plays to all of the senses.

Roncero’s passion also extends beyond the kitchen – he is an avid athlete who encourages other Spanish chefs to take up various sports and exercise. He promotes healthy nutrition habits for athletes, and has worked with nutritionists and the Instituto Nacional del Deporte (ISD) to create innovative and delicious recipes for sports nutrition. His long journey in the restaurant industry, along with his passion for sports and defense of healthy eating habits, makes him the perfect spokesperson to spread the powerful nutrition message of American pistachios in Spain.

Pastry Chef Michela Toni conducted a baking class for Italy’s key food journalists and bloggers. The lesson: How to cook American pistachio muffins. Fifteen of Italy’s most influential food journalists and bloggers attended from Clelia D’Onofrio, judge of the TV program Bake Off, to the editors-in-chief of the food magazines Cucinare Bene and wellness weekly Viversani &Belli, and the famous American blogger Laurel Evans. After the cooking class, journalists were served a 4-course menu with pistachios in each dish to demonstrate the versatility of pistachios. The event took place at the California Bakery, a famous chain of American bakeries in Milan, on November 20 and has already generated over 400,000 impressions for APG. Click here to view a video of the event.

In November, APG and Active Woman magazine held a Facebook contest inviting active women across Germany to share their post-workout tips for the chance to win a Pistachio Post-Workout Kit. The kit included pistachio products such as pistachio shampoo, pistachio body cream, pistachio green towels and scrub and, of course, delicious and nutritious pistachios for refueling. Active Woman’s Facebook page has over 31,000 fans.

APG teamed up once again with Achim Achilles to spread the pistachio health and nutrition message to runners in Germany. APG’s mascot American Pistachio will be featured in the videos and online health tools across Achim Achilles social media channels. The promotion will run throughout 2015 and will be featured on Achim Achilles’ website (generates more than 563,000 unique users annually), his Facebook page (20,000 fans) and in his newsletter (13,000 subscribers).

Achim Achilles is a renowned journalist, runner and “Natural Running” advocate, based in Berlin. His mission is to educate, report on and promote the benefits of expanding and strengthening the foot’s natural motion to create better balance. He is also a proponent of proper nutrition for optimal fitness.

The decision depends on the value of harvesting four to five days sooner, the degree of alternate bearing, the condition and age of the orchard, and how deficient you are in chilling. My oil tests show that six gallons of the 415 oil applied between late January and mid-February worked as well as Volck速 (a 476 oil no longer available) in years with sufficient chilling. I would use at least a 440 oil when chill portions are marginal (estimated 53 portions). In areas with less than 46 chill portions (estimated to be about 550 hours of effective chilling below 450F), I recommend using a 470 oil.

Reports from pistachio experts in Kern County suggest mid-January oil applications have been successful in their county. Replicated research at Parlier, Kettleman City and Madera County suggested that applications as close to February 15 as practically possible provided the most predictable restbreaking response to oil. This research was performed between 1997 and 2007, when we had certain years of low chilling, but the frequency of unusually warm days was much lower than that of more recent winters. An oil timing study performed with Chris Wylie at Agri-World, over three winters, indicated that oil application became less valuable after February 21. Hence, Chris and I concluded that growers with large acreage needed to start around February 10 and finish by the 20th. The fact that you cannot pull this off on your ranch does NOT alter the conclusions of the experiment! To get the desired response from oil, one either has to treat the importance of timing like Gibberellin on table grapes, or do less acreage correctly.

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When Adam Kusmak’s parents relocated to New Mexico in 1986, they decided to dabble in pistachio farming as a business investment. They purchased land in Tularosa, New Mexico, located in Otero County in the southern part of the state. At that time, pistachio farming was on the cusp of becoming a healthy commercial endeavor in that region. So, what started out as an orchard of a few acres, soon expanded to full-scale production of nearly 60 acres with a plan to expand to 80 acres in 2016.

In 2005, Danielle joined the family pistachio business with Adam and his parents. Danielle, who was born in New Mexico, joined the family with an already-diversified background in agriculture that included spending hours in the saddle as she worked summers for her father’s business in agri-tourism. When the time was right, she attended college in Oklahoma and New Mexico, where she earned her master’s degree in agriculture. Her main interest was in (and remains) stewardship agriculture-sustainability of both natural and human resources while achieving high-quality results.

Adam moved with his parents from Wyoming to New Mexico in 1986 and continued his education and agriculture activities. Adam received both his degrees from New Mexico State University in agriculture business and agriculture economics.

Danielle and Adam instill their agricultural values in their two energetic boys-Kaleb (8) and Samuel (5).

“They are fast-paced learners in the orchard,” says Danielle. “They learn about the many facets of pistachio production by actively participating in planting new seedling trees, helping to maintain mature plots, and both harvesting and marketing their New Mexico-grown pistachios.”

Adam and Danielle find limitless opportunities to involve the family in the whole process of pistachio farming.

“We are invested in teaching good agriculture stewardship in the next generation of Kusmak pistachio farmers,” says Danielle.

Are you interested in learning more about the pistachio industry?

Becoming a leader in both the industry and APG? Then it’s time for you to “LeadON!” The American Pistachio Growers Leadership Program, newly named “APG LeadON,” was started

by Brian Blackwell and Jim Zion as a way to engage and train the emerging leaders in our industry. They created the program to help educate and motivate the next generation of leaders, who are essential for the continued success of this growing industry.

Applications for the 5th annual APG LeadON Program are now available!

We encourage APG members to engage in this year-long education and training program. In APG LeadON we cover a variety of topics, such as pistachio production, water and food safety, nutrition, leadership, and the legislative and regulatory activities of APG. Participants will receive a firsthand look of how the committees and board operate and prepare participants for possible APG committees and board selection. Click here for the program application.

For more information about this program, contact Dianna Short at (559) 475-0435 or email at dshort@ americanpistachios.org.