Introduction
We have reviewed quite a few pistachios in Australia already. Most of the time the results were not amazing. Australian pistachios do not have the same quality and consistency as other pistachios we’ve reviewed in Europe or the Middle East and other places but we’re always open to try new brands and flavours and who knows? maybe we’ll have some good surprises and find good pistachios in Australia !
Today we review some pistachios from the brand JC Quality Foods which has been founded according to their website in 1994. Is that an indication of quality, heritage, and plenty of time to produce tasty pistachios? Let’s find out !
Packaging
The packaging is actually quite stylish and nicely designed. A nice simple color palette of orange and whitish/beige. Good font choices, and not an overwhelming amount of information, at least in the front of the package.
In the front, we can see the JC logo adorned with a “Quality Foods” and “Family Owned” banners, and some information describing these pistachios as premium salted, roasted to perfection with a light salt dusting. If you are a regular reader of our blog, you’d know that we like a light salt dusting on our pistachios.. so this is promising. Additional information includes a 4.5 health star rating (unsourced), and some encouraging health-related labels indicating that the pistachios are a good source of dietary fiber and protein.
The back of the packaging is another story. It has a lot more reading material, including the history of the company priding itself on quality, Australian ownership and local sourcing (even though another label describes it as having less than 10% Australian ingredients.
JCs pistachios 
JC’s back packaging
In the rest of this post we will see how these claims translate into quality pistachios. We are pleased that the packaging includes information on consumer enquiries. The right side of the package includes nutritional contents and a basic ingredients list consisting of Pistachios and salt. We like the simplicity.
The large window offering a look at the pistachios shows some bright greens and purples and nicely opened pistachios. Overall a good start.
Smell
We can notice a deep sweet smell to these pistachios. A promising smell.
In shell condition
These shells are a bit dinged up which is not a bad sign or anything, once unshelled we’ll have a more complete idea regarding the quality of these pistachios.
Size
These pistachios fall in the category of medium to large which is a good category to be in. They look nice and full.
Openness
These pistachios are mostly open so you don’t have to worry too much about having completely closed pistachios or huting your teeth while opening them.
Unshelled
How do these pistachios look unshelled? These have a nice green and purple color. This is what we like to see in pistachios.
Saltiness & Taste
We don’t really see a thick layer of salt crystals on these pistachios… This is fine. Some pistachios can be too salty. A delicate amount of salt is preferred. These pistachios have a good flavour, crispy with only one or two bad ones. So the quality is kind of good. While some of these pistachios have a good flavour, the good taste does not extend to all of them. We wish the good flavour was consistent throughout.
Conclusion
Overall, we really loved these pistachios ! The taste, texture, and visual aspect were top of the line ! With their good salt to pistachio ratio, consistency, and flavor, these can be considered a good Australian pistachio and deserve their 4.4/5 score. These are not bad at all !
