Assemi Brothers battle Wonderful Pistachios in Fresno County court over nut payments
A clash between two agricultural powerhouses is playing out in a Fresno County Superior civil courtroom this week as the Assemi Brothers farming company tries to recoup millions of dollars from the reigning kings of the nut industry, Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds.
Founded by Los Angeles billionaire Stewart Resnick, the Wonderful company produces the top brand of tree nuts in the United States. For years, Wonderful has sourced nuts from hundreds of growers in the San Joaquin Valley, including the Assemi Brothers company owned by Farid, Farshid and Darius of Fresno.
Farid Assemi, testifying in court Tuesday, said he considered Resnick a friend as well as a business associate. But their relationship soured in 2018 when Assemi said he told Resnick that the family was going to expand its pistachio holdings by building their own processing plant and creating their own brand.
The news didn’t sit well with Resnick, whose Wonderful brand of products includes almonds, mandarins, pomegranates, pistachios and sweet grapefruit.
In their breach of contract civil lawsuit, the Assemis allege Resnick tried to punish them by withholding full payment for their 2018 crop of pistachios.
’Grower Partner Bonus’ withheld
Wonderful officials, according to court documents, said the Assemis were not entitled to what’s known as a “Grower Partner Bonus,” 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 could add up to millions of dollars.
Wonderful’s argument is that the Assemi Brothers are not entitled to the bonus because they would no longer be delivering pistachios to Wonderful. They also said payment of the bonus was discretionary.
Assemi’s attorney James Bennett, of the Norton Law Firm in Oakland, asked Assemi if anyone at Wonderful ever told him that the bonus payments were discretionary or that growers forfeited the bonus if they wouldn’t be delivering their nuts to the company the following year.
“I have been doing business with them since 2005 and I’ve never heard anyone say that,” Assemi testified. “All we wanted to do is build our own plant and process our own pistachios.”
Assemi testifies conflict with Wonderful continued
The pushback from Wonderful grew more intense as the Assemis moved forward with their plans.
Assemi testified that Resnick invited him to a meeting in Los Angeles during the summer of 2018 when he went through a PowerPoint presentation showing Assemi and other company representatives why it would be a mistake to try and operate their own pistachio processing plant.
Resnick is also accused of bad-mouthing the Assemi Brothers for trying to compete with him and the Wonderful brand.
At a growers meeting, Resnick is alleged to have told the audience that if anyone else is thinking about challenging Wonderful, “we are going to (expletive) them.”
Assemi testified that he was shocked when he heard what was said.
“It was not pleasant,” he said. “I thought we were friends.”
The civil trial continues in Dept. 503.
This story was originally published October 18, 2023 at 8:18 AM.
