A pistachio giant is suing Fresno County over a rival’s nut processing plant. Here’s why
Wonderful Nut Orchards LLC, a giant in the pistachio industry, is suing Fresno County to try and halt the construction of a potential rival’s nut processing plant.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges the county has bypassed the state’s environmental review process and illegally issued construction permits for a massive pistachio processing plant being built by the Assemi family.
“Despite the significant potential of this massive industrial agricultural operation to have irreversible adverse impacts on the environment, the county has not completed the required California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review,” the lawsuit states.
County spokesman Jordan Scott said officials had not seen lawsuit and were unable to offer a comment.
Several Assemi-related companies named as parties of interest in the suit include Ventana South LLC, Highway 33 Pistachios, Assemi Brothers LLC and Assemi Group, Inc.
The Assemis have denied any wrongdoing.
“We believe we have done all the necessary environmental review,” said Jennifer Reisz, general counsel for Maricopa Orchards, an Assemi company.
The proposed plant, which includes 300,000 square feet of building space, is already under construction on West Kamm Avenue, between Interstate 5 and Highway 33 in the Cantua Creek area of west Fresno County. On the property are several 60-foot tall silos and other structures.
Wonderful officials want to force the county to comply with CEQA and to stop issuing building permits for the multi-phase project. The lawsuit also asks that any structures built without environmental approval be demolished.
“We are asking the County of Fresno to order Ventana to halt its construction activities of the commercial processing plant immediately,” said Mark Carmel, Wonderful company spokesperson. “We ask the County to ensure that Ventana follows all laws and that the County adhere to the California Environmental Quality Act by completing the required environmental review of the project.”
The lawsuit notes Wonderful officials have been talking to county building officials since October when they uncovered the alleged “illegal” construction. Although the county issued a limited stop work order for the unpermitted construction, it has “refused to revoke the illegally issued permits or to require Ventana to remove the illegal construction,” the suit says.
When finished, it’s estimated that the pistachio processing plant will be the single largest one in the world, according to the lawsuit. The plant also represents increased competition to the Wonderful brand, the top selling tree nut in the United States.
This is also not the first time the Assemi family and the Wonderful company have tangled in court.
In September, the Assemi Brothers filed a lawsuit against Wonderful Pistachios and its billionaire owner Stewart Resnick for alleged breach of contract.
Wonderful Pistachios, whose operations are centered in the San Joaquin Valley, has sourced nuts from more than 800 growers, including the Assemi Brothers company owned by Farid, Farshid and Darius Assemi and their associated farming companies.
When Assemi Brothers announced it was opening its own processing plant in Fresno County it did not sit well with Resnick, whose agriculture empire includes other well-known Wonderful brands such as almonds, mandarins, pomegranates and sweet grapefruit.
The Assemi Brothers allege Wonderful Pistachios is trying to withhold money due to them for its 2018 crop of pistachios. What’s missing is the “Grower Partner Bonus,” a payment that is given to growers at the end of the season. That bonus makes up about 30% of the price that is paid to the grower. And for large growers like Assemi and its farming companies, that could add up to millions of dollars, an industry analyst said.
The Assemi’s also allege in their lawsuit that Wonderful officials determined the brothers are not entitled to the bonus because it will no longer be delivering pistachios to Wonderful.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
