Germack Pistachio Company

That bright-red pistachio you grew up cracking open? Detroit invented it. Armenian immigrant brothers John and Frank Germack set up in Detroit in 1924 as the first company in America to import and roast pistachios — and it was Frank who dyed them that signature lipstick red, originally to hide natural staining and catch the eye, creating the “Red Lip” pistachio that became a national craze (sold in penny vending machines through the Depression).

A century later, Germack is still family-owned, into its fourth generation, still roasting nuts (and, since 2010, coffee) in small batches in Eastern Market. It’s the oldest pistachio roaster in the country, and it’s right where it belongs — on Russell Street, in the middle of the market that’s fed Detroit since 1891.