The Farmer Magazine
Cracking open the hazelnut industry
27 September 2021
In the year ending June 2020, 12 per cent of Australian households had purchased ‘fresh’ hazelnuts, buying an average of 162g per shopping trip. Many more Australians would have eaten hazelnuts as an ingredient in chocolate bars, cakes, breakfast spreads and as part of dishes in high-end restaurants.
But the most likely origin of hazelnuts consumed in Australia is somewhere far from home – the Black Sea Coast in Turkey to be exact, where 70 per cent of the world’s hazelnut crop comes from. In the year ending June 2020, Australia exported five tonnes of kernel hazelnuts, and one tonne of in-shell hazelnuts, but we imported a whopping 3,496 tonnes of kernel hazelnuts to feed our chocolate habit (most imports are used by mass-market confectioners).
“There is a significant import replacement opportunity for Australian-grown hazelnuts,” explains Darren Baguley, the NSW Representative for the Hazelnut Growers of Australia.
“There is an even larger potential market for providing quality, fresh Australian hazelnuts to the northern hemisphere in off season – if we can get to scale,” says Darren.
The Examiner
Meander Valley Hazelnut Festival to celebrate nutty harvest
4 Feb 2021
It takes patience to be a hazelnut farmer, but Christie Mcleod and Michael Delphin are ready to celebrate big after years of waiting. The pair, who own Hazelbrae Hazelnuts at Hagley, hosts the first-ever Meander Valley Hazelnut Festival, celebrating the impending hazelnut harvest, and celebrating the growing industry.
ABC Landline
Going Nuts: Australia’s hazelnut industry experiencing a growth spurt
15 Jun 2019
Hazelnut farming has had several false starts in this country over the last 100 years but the mood in the industry now is upbeat. A global confectionery giant has invested locally and with new players and expanding family farms, Australia may finally crack this nut.
