While that is true that factories CAN be extremely detailed in their process, everything is driven by cost efficiency. If it is more efficient to process a large batch instead of a small one, what happens in this thread is what you get. There is no reason to say "oh they could remove those shells!" because it's only a thing worth doing if it's cost effective.

So I guess yes you're right it's fixable but only if it's a problem people care about. I think it's fundamentally crazier to think you can figure what is profitable for pistachios from a thread by some rando better than the company that makes them.

Maybe it's a conspiracy, probably it's process optimization.