Written on 15 December 2025, updated on 10 February 2026
These two articles provide a clear picture of the situation arising from the intensive cultivation of hazelnuts used in the confectionery industry.
Hazelnuts: a global slump caused by environmental factors, from Turkey to Tuscia
Ferrero has halted hazelnut imports from Turkey. The price has doubled in the space of a few months, from the start of summer to the present day. Production has plummeted due to a late frost and an infestation of the Asian bug. In Italy, too, the sector is in deep crisis. Confagricoltura is calling on the government for support. Ferrero is responding by opening a free school for agronomists and technicians, to revitalise the supply chain. Meanwhile, environmental issues remain unaddressed, even in Tuscia, where the Council of State has called for action.
Hazelnuts are also in crisis in Turkey, the world’s largest producer. More than 70 per cent comes from this country. But this year, the harvest has plummeted, according to estimates, from 600,000–700,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes or less, due to a late frost and an infestation of the Asian brown stink bug. And the price has doubled since June, rising from 9,000 to 18,000 dollars per tonne today.
Ferrero, which accuses Turkish traders of speculation, has decided to halt supplies. For the time being, the company – which uses a quarter of the world’s hazelnut production – will draw on its stocks and turn to Chile and the United States. The Financial Times reported this in recent days.
An environmental and economic crisis
Italy, the world’s second-largest producer, is not faring any better. We wrote about the crisis in the hazelnut sector in VITA as early as the end of September. Intensive hazelnut cultivation is the main cause of pollution in Lake Vico, in the Tuscia region. A ruling by the Council of State requires the Lazio Region to adopt measures to protect the lake basin.
Here, environmental degradation and economic losses go hand in hand and highlight the need to change production methods.
In the province of Viterbo and in other key production areas in Piedmont, Campania and Sicily, the decline has reached more than 70 per cent of production potential.
In Tuscia, the economic losses are estimated at 160 million euros. To tackle the crisis, Confagricoltura has written to the Minister for Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, calling for measures to support the sector. The causes of this particularly poor season are attributable to abnormal weather conditions throughout Italy, including a lack of or excessive rainfall, heatwaves, a shortage of cold hours, excessive humidity and strong winds. This has encouraged the spread of the hazelnut bug and led to the development of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, as well as widespread premature nut drop. However, as Confagricoltura points out, ‘for some years now, Italy’s production potential has been unable to reach its full potential, and as a result, the profit margins of hazelnut-growing businesses are under serious strain, caught between high production costs and ever-decreasing yields’.
A training programme for hazelnut cultivation
Ferrero itself recognises the urgent need for a change of direction, as ‘the sector faces critical challenges linked to climate change, new plant diseases and global competitive pressure’.
The company has promoted the launch of a free training programme for agronomists and technicians, dedicated to hazelnut cultivation in Italy: the Hazelnut Agronomy Programme, in collaboration with the European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability and the National Council of Agronomists and Foresters (Conaf).
It remains to be seen whether the Ferrero-backed programme will also address environmental issues. These are exacerbated by the treatment of workers and the lack of reciprocity regarding the use of pesticides banned in the EU but used in Turkey, as detailed below.
Turkish hazelnuts: producers and labourers speak out
The hazelnut production system in Turkey was the focus of a report broadcast on 13 December as part of the Rai programme *Indovina chi viene a cena*. Featuring first-hand accounts fromproducers,seasonal workers andvarious stakeholders in the sector, the investigation highlightedmanagement challenges,workers’ livingconditionsandthe use of pesticidesnow banned in Europe.
Turkey supplies a large proportion of the hazelnuts consumed worldwide, including those used in sweets and spreads. This is a sector of vital importance to both the domestic and global economies, but one which has become increasingly complex in recent years.
Dwindling profits
Turkish producers, including medium-sizedfirms, have seen their profit margins shrink. This was also confirmed by the entrepreneur Ozer Akbasli, owner of the Taflan company in Kayadibi, in an interview with journalist Nuria Biuzzi. A hazelnut producer for generations, the company processes an average of 80 tonnes of hazelnuts a year, sourced from both its own crops and those of small local producers, which are then sold fresh or roasted.
Most of the production is absorbedby the confectionery industry, but it is very difficult for Turkish companies operating under local brands to break intothe European market, which is dominated mainly by big names – including the Italian firm Ferrero – which source a large proportion of the hazelnuts they need from here. Although, as we have already reported, Ferrero itself has recentlytemporarily suspended its purchases in the country.
The minimum price set by the Turkish government for the sale of hazelnuts was, in the past, four euros per kilo. This year, given the low yield, shelled hazelnuts have been sold at five euros per kilo. However, according to trade unionist and producer Zekai Sagra, to guarantee an adequate income, they should be sold for at least six euros. The financial return therefore does not cover the high production costs, making the business difficult to sustain.
A few large companies play a decisive role in the system. According to Atakan Akca, president of the Ordu Chamber of Commerce, Ferrero’s commitment to ensuring a fairer market – by not buying below the minimum price and diversifying the producer base – is not sufficient to enable the system to sustain itself. In ten years, the number of hazelnut exporters in Turkey has fallen from 68 to 8.
The living conditions of seasonal workers
The difficulties faced by producers are compounded by the harsh living conditions of seasonal workers who,during the harvest period,travel – with their families in tow – to the production areas. The images show how they live inmakeshift accommodation – tents pitched at the sides of motorways – without drinking water or electricity, and with improvised cooking stoves.Their children arewith them too; for the duration of the harvest,these childrenare unable to attend school.
The pay, one of them explains, is around 30 euros a day for an 11-hour working day, with no contract. This year, given the shortage of hazelnuts, they would have accepted even lower wages just to keep their jobs.
“Everyone knows these children aren’t in school, but nobody does anything,”Zekai Sagratold the journalist. “European companies come here, implement a few projects and then go home. But it’s just a way for them to look good. Without the underpaid labourers, the price of hazelnuts would skyrocket.”
Pesticides: rules that differ from those in Europe
Added to this is the use of pesticides. To combat the Asian bug, which has caused damage in Turkey as well as in Italy, products approved by the local Ministry of Agriculture are used. However, as the investigation highlights, it is also possible to find some that have been banned in Europe for many years now.
It is true that inflation has eroded the purchasing power of confectionery buyers, but perhaps Ferrero should “do more” when it comes to managing its workforce and the environment.
This is not easy to put into practice because, in addition to managing over 70 factories worldwide, the multinational has a supply chain stretching from Italy to Turkey (hazelnuts) and branching out to Indonesia and Malaysia (palm oil) and Africa (cocoa).
