Gaza Grape Harvest Hit by Too Much Sun, Not Enough Rain 

A Palestinian farmer picks up grapes at a field in Gaza City August 21, 2023. (Reuters)
A Palestinian farmer picks up grapes at a field in Gaza City August 21, 2023. (Reuters)
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Gaza Grape Harvest Hit by Too Much Sun, Not Enough Rain 

A Palestinian farmer picks up grapes at a field in Gaza City August 21, 2023. (Reuters)
A Palestinian farmer picks up grapes at a field in Gaza City August 21, 2023. (Reuters)

Grape harvests in Gaza have been hit hard by relentless heat waves and a lack of rain, leaving farmers in the Palestinian enclave worried for their livelihood.

Grapes are a favorite treat among Gaza's residents and vineyards cover much of its farmland.

But they are particularly sensitive to shifting temperatures and weather patterns, and like in other regions across the world, there is reason for concern.

Ibrahim Abu Owayyed comes from a family of growers. His vineyard was passed down from his father and grandfather. He saw his harvest plummet to 1.5 tons compared to five tons of grapes last season.

"It is almost nothing," said Abu Owayyed. "Grapes are our sole source of income. We and our children rely on it. The heat and the climate change impacted us completely."

Production in the 2023 season dropped 60% from last year to 4,000 tons, according to Agriculture Ministry official Mohammad Abu Odeh. Grapes remain in the top four of crops in Gaza.

"Higher temperatures have also led to the spread of disease, which impacted the already low production and further increased the costs for farmers," Odeh said, pointing to shriveled up bunches of grapes hanging in one coastal vineyard.

At least 1,000 farmers work 1,730 acres of grapes, he said.

The problem does not stop with grapes, he said. Climate change is threatening broader food security in the territory, home to 2.3 million people and under a blockade by Israel.

Owayyed, a father of seven and a farmer for 25 years, said he had to pay double the usual on pesticides as prices rise.

Palestinians say the 16-year-old blockade has crippled the territory's economy. Israel and Egypt also imposed tighter restrictions on the movement of people and goods through the Gaza crossings.

Weak production has hiked the price of grapes, said farmer Khamees Shamalakh.

"The economic situation in the country is bad, people have no income, someone who used to buy three or four kilos is buying one kilo now," said Shamalakh, 75, at his stall at one of Gaza City's busiest squares.



Dubai Chocolate Sparks Pistachio Shortage amid TikTok Craze

Shop owner Ali Fakhro prepares Dubai chocolate at his Abu Khaled Sweets oriental pastry shop in Berlin's Wedding district on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
Shop owner Ali Fakhro prepares Dubai chocolate at his Abu Khaled Sweets oriental pastry shop in Berlin's Wedding district on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
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Dubai Chocolate Sparks Pistachio Shortage amid TikTok Craze

Shop owner Ali Fakhro prepares Dubai chocolate at his Abu Khaled Sweets oriental pastry shop in Berlin's Wedding district on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
Shop owner Ali Fakhro prepares Dubai chocolate at his Abu Khaled Sweets oriental pastry shop in Berlin's Wedding district on November 14, 2024. (AFP)

The meteoric rise of Dubai chocolate has triggered a global pistachio supply crunch, exacerbating a worldwide shortage of the green nut and sending its prices soaring.

The bars, a marriage of pistachio cream, shredded pastry and milk chocolate, were a modest hit after their 2021 launch by boutique Emirati chocolatier FIX — until a TikTok video turned them into a global sensation.

The clip, posted in December 2023, has amassed more than 120 million views and fueled a worldwide craze for pistachio chocolate, spawning a host of knock-offs, reported the Financial Times.

Due to the craze, Pistachio kernel prices have surged from $7.65 a pound a year ago to around $10.30 a pound now, said Giles Hacking of nut trader CG Hacking. “The pistachio world is basically tapped out at the moment,” he said, according to the Financial Times.

The chocolate does not come cheap. Lindt’s Dubai offering retails at £10 for 145 grams in the UK, more than double its other bars. But consumers are so keen that some shops are reportedly limiting how many bars each customer can buy, while Lindt and British supermarket Wm Morrison have launched pistachio cream Easter eggs.

Pistachio stocks were already dwindling after a disappointing harvest last year in the US, the nut’s leading exporter. The US crop was also higher quality than usual, leaving fewer of the cheap, shell-free kernels that are generally sold as ingredients for chocolate and other food, said Hacking.

“There wasn’t much in supply, so when Dubai chocolate comes along, and [chocolatiers] are buying up all the kernels they get their hands on that leaves the rest of the world short,” Hacking said.

Iran, the world’s second-largest producer, exported 40 percent more pistachios to the UAE in the six months to March 2025 than it did over the full 12 months before that, according to Iran’s customs office.

The shortage marks a sharp reversal from 2023 when global pistachio supply exceeded demand and caused a price drop, said Behrooz Agah, a board member at Iran’s pistachio association.

Due to that glut, “a variety of byproducts became available such as pistachio butter, oil and paste, which could be used in a wide range of pistachio-based foods,” he said. “That was around the same time Dubai Chocolate was launched and gradually went viral worldwide.”

In California, some farmers have begun switching from almonds to pistachios in recent years due largely to low almond prices, but those trees won’t start producing until next season’s harvest in September.

In the meantime, chocolatiers say they can’t produce enough of the cream-filled bars.

“It feels like it came out of nowhere, and suddenly you see it in every corner shop,” said Charles Jandreau, general manager for Prestat Group, which owns luxury UK chocolate brands.

“No one’s ready for this,” he said, describing his struggles to procure kataifi, the shredded Middle Eastern pastry used in the cream.

Chocolate lovers had already been suffering from a cocoa supply crunch, which led prices to almost triple in 2024 as extreme weather and disease hit harvests. Producers have been selling smaller bars with new recipes that scrimp on the cocoa.