Major pistachio plant sold in CA for only $25M amid Assemi farming collapse
Tulare County’s Setton Pistachio, one of the largest pistachio growers in the nation, is buying rival Touchstone Pistachio Company for $25 million in the wake of the Assemi family’s farming collapse.
Located in Terra Bella, Touchstone was the centerpiece of the Assemi family’s vast pistachio and almond holdings that at one time totaled more than 50,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley.
But mounting debt forced several major lenders to sue the Assemi brothers, Farid, Farshid and Darius, for hundreds of millions of dollars in overdue loans.
Court records show the Assemi’s owed $700 million to Prudential Insurance Company of America and PGIM Real Estate Finance.
As part of the breach of contract lawsuits, a federal judge in Fresno appointed a receiver to handle the management of the company and potential liquidation of the company’s assets, including the Touchstone packing house.
Court-appointed receiver David P. Stapleton of Los Angeles originally intended to sell the packing and processing plant through a bid process, but those plans changed after Stapleton stated in court documents that only one bid qualified, it was submitted by the Zamora Pistachio LLC, the name of Setton’s plant in Yolo County.
One of the rival bidders, Adam Orandi, chief executive officer of ARO Pistachios, objected to the bidding process, pleading with the court for more time to get his financing plan together.
For Orandi, buying the Touchstone plant was as much personal as it was a business opportunity.
Orandi’s father, Dr. Mehdi Orandi, a fifth generation farmer from Iran, planted his first pistachio trees in 1971 and started that plant more than 30 years ago. Adam Orandi remembers working at the plant their his summers as a young man.
“My dad was a real pioneer in the early days of the pistachio industry,” Orandi said. “And eventually I springboarded into my own thing and later bought the facility from my dad and forming my own company in 2010.”
Orandi ran the processing plant for a decade before selling it to Farid Assemi.
“When I heard that the plant was being sold again, I knew I had to do something,” Orandi said.
With less than two weeks before the bid deadline of April 15, Orandi reached out to two friends and investors from Chicago, to help him pull together an offer.
Orandi said he was intending to offer $50 million for the plant, double what Setton was offering. But the clock was ticking, and Orandi needed more time, he said.
Although he formally requested more time from the court, his request was denied. On Tuesday, a judge issued a proposed order confirming the sale to Setton.
It is unclear what will happen to the Assemi’s farmland. In September, the judge approved $32 million in funding from Prudential Insurance to cover the costs of preparing for and harvesting last years crop.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 7:30 AM.
