US pistachio growers tour 4 Chinese cities

File photo

American Pistachio Growers recently held the 5th annual American Pistachio Growers Miss California China Tour, with leading growers of the nut and the newly crowned Miss California 2015, Bree Morse, visiting Shanghai, Ningbo, Xi’an and Beijing.

The agricultural trade association represents members who are pistachio growers, processors and industry partners in California, Arizona and New Mexico.

China takes 25 percent of the pistachios exported from the United States, according to the association.

The last time APG toured Beijing was in 2010, and this time APG has brought Miss California back to the capital city of China to promote California-grown pistachios.

A bakery event on Dec 16 was held at Beijing’s Yid Blue Collar International Institute, in which four recipes using American pistachios were created and taught to the students of the institute. Bruce Zanin, director of Agricultural Trade Office in Beijing of United States Department of Agriculture, also spoke to the attending students and media.

At a Dec 17 workshop at Betty’s Baking, a dozen of local consumers teamed up with Miss California and the growers to create recipes incorporating American pistachios.

On Dec 18, APG and the China Diabetes Association hosted a seminar on pistachio’s effect in the diet of diabetics, joined by Ge Sheng from the Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital’s Nutrition Department.