The discussion on why Mediterranean pine nuts are so expensive is not new. Even on the Portuguese press, it's easy to find several articles describing it as the "national caviar" or "white gold."
More than one factor contribute to the continued inflation on pine nut price. In 2010, the price of pine nut at the factory's door was around EUR 25 per kilo, but nowadays, it can hit values around EUR 60-65 per kilo. Supporting this inflation, the suppliers state the high pressure on demand, due to the successive harvests with lower yields, not only in Portugal but also in Spain and the price paid to the worker extraction. A worker never earns less than EUR 120 per day, and one kilo, which is three pine cones, yields 15 to 45 grams of pine nuts.