Hazelnuts
Revised August, 2021.
Production
In 2020, there were 71,000 tons of hazelnuts harvested valued at $132 million dollars. (NASS 2020)
Turkey still dominates the world hazelnut industry, generally producing about 75 percent of the world's total. However, recent weather and disease issues affecting Turkey’s crops have increased demand from the United States. Additionally, Hazelnut export from the USA is increasing competition with probable higher Italian export. As the hazelnut production of the U.S. comes from Oregon, this region has been very efficient in setting hazelnut prices. (FAO 2020).
Value-added Products
Hazelnuts are often featured in chocolate truffles or ground into meal and used as flour in cakes, cookies and breads.
Chocolate-hazelnut spreads are a popular product similar to peanut butter. An increasing number of food companies have started to make their own version of this spread, which are now available at most major grocery chains.
Hazelnuts are sold unshelled, as whole, diced, sliced or ground kernels, as paste or as oil. The highest quality nuts, which command the highest prices, are sold unshelled. The most important market for these nuts is the snack food industry.
The U.S. bakery, breakfast cereal and confectionery industries use domestic and imported hazelnut. Companies in these sectors often convert shelled hazelnuts to paste for use as an ingredient.
Financial
Helpful enterprise budget for hazelnuts:
- The Costs and Returns of Establishing and Producing Hazelnuts in the Willamette Valley, Oregon State University Extension Service.
Sources
Fruit and Tree Nut Data, Economic Research Service (ERS), USDA.
Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS)
Hazelnut Production, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), 2018
