Trial over farming giants’ pistachio deal worth ‘tens of millions’ wraps up in Fresno
A civil trial pitting two San Joaquin Valley agricultural titans and potentially “tens of millions” in damages is now in the hands of a Fresno County jury.
The battle between Assemi Brothers LLC and Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds LLC concluded Tuesday after 24 days of testimony, including from billionaire businessman Stewart Resnick, founder of the Wonderful company, the top brand of tree nuts in the United States.
The Assemi Brothers, known locally for their home building, philanthropy and farming prowess, sued the Wonderful nut company in 2019 alleging breach of contract. They are suing for economic damages against Wonderful, which also has a track record of philanthropy in the Valley.
At one time, the Assemi Brothers company, owned by Farid, Farshid and Darius of Fresno, were among the more than 900 growers who supplied Wonderful with their pistachios.
During the trial, witnesses described how the once-friendly relationship between Resnick and Farid Assemi soured over allegations of disloyalty, greed and broken promises.
Farid Assemi testified in court that once Resnick became aware of the brothers’ plans to build their own pistachio processing plant to handle their own nuts, their business relationship changed.
Resnick, according to the lawsuit, retaliated against Assemi Brothers by trying to withhold full payment for its 2018 crop of pistachios because the Fresno company would no longer be delivering pistachios to Wonderful.
Earlier in the trial, Resnick testified that the brothers were paid what they were owed but he also said Farid Assemi agreed to continue supplying Wonderful with pistachios for 10 years. In exchange, Assemi would get exclusive access to a new pistachio tree, created by Wonderful, that promised higher yields.
Whether or not such an agreement existed remains in dispute.
Wonderful attorney Rick Shackelford said during his closing arguments Tuesday that Farid received more than 384,000 “super trees” from 2015 to 2018 as part of the agreement to continue supplying Wonderful with pistachios.
“Truckload after truckload of trees arrived, and no one was surprised. There was nothing in writing, but they didn’t show up out of the blue,” Shackelford said. “Of course there was an agreement. To deny there was is to deny reality and is an insult to your (the jury’s) intelligence. “
Assemi Brothers attorney James Bennett downplayed Shackelford’s accusations, saying the opposition never provided proof of a deal.
“They are trying to defend a made-up claim using a made-up story,” Bennett said. “But there is not a single piece of paper to support it’s existence.”
The jury will continue deliberating Wednesday.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 4:34 PM.
