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Türkiye’s hazelnut market has hit a major bottleneck as Ferrero, the Italian producer of Nutella, temporarily halted its purchases amid shrinking supplies and soaring prices following severe weather and pest outbreaks.
According to the Financial Times, frost and pest infestations earlier this year drastically reduced Türkiye’s hazelnut yield.
Normally producing between 600,000 and 700,000 tons annually, nearly two-thirds of the global supply, the country’s output is expected to fall to 500,000 tons or even lower.
Provincial data from the Agriculture Ministry estimates around 450,000 tons, while Ulubey FISKOBIRLIK President Cemil Temiz told FT the real figure might not exceed 300,000 tons.
Giles Hacking, founder of London-based supplier CH Hacking & Sons, said the price of shelled hazelnuts nearly doubled, climbing from $9,000 to $18,000 per ton since July.
Small producers in Türkiye are reportedly holding onto their stocks, rejecting Ferrero’s low-price offers. Meanwhile, Ferrero is delaying purchases, waiting for prices to stabilize.
Marco Botta, head of Ferrero’s hazelnut procurement division, compared the situation to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, saying the company has “become Godot for the hazelnut kings in Türkiye.”
Botta said Ferrero is currently sourcing hazelnuts from Chile and the United States, where the company has expanded production capacity over the past two years. Despite the pause in purchasing, he added that Ferrero remains committed to long-term investments in Türkiye, even without formal agreements with the Turkish Grain Board (TMO).
In Ordu, part-time farmer Saadettin Irmakci said his yield dropped from 1.5 tons to just 30 kilograms (66.1 pounds) this year, calling the price increase “necessary and fair.” “In the Black Sea, fishermen earn in one day what we earn in a year,” he said.
Bakici, export director at Poyraz Fındık, one of Türkiye’s top five hazelnut exporters, said fears of losing market share are growing. “Chile is expanding aggressively and aims to reach 200,000 tons within 5 to 10 years,” he noted.
He added that rising labor costs have weakened Türkiye’s competitiveness: “Hazelnuts are like lamb meat among nuts, high quality and sophisticated in flavor, but Türkiye has failed to build a brand and has long acted as Europe’s subcontractor.”
The FT report emphasized that Türkiye remains primarily a raw material exporter in the hazelnut industry.
Despite state-backed purchase prices through TMO, private sector representatives say the rates remain below market value, discouraging farmers.
Analysts warn that the current standoff between Ferrero and Turkish suppliers could eventually push global Nutella prices higher.
Ferrero declined to comment on potential price changes but acknowledged that ongoing supply disruptions could affect future production planning.
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