Hazelnut areas in Ukraine will increase to 8 thousand hectares

According to the Ukrainian Nut Association, hazelnuts are the dominant crop in nut orchards in Ukraine with a share of 98%. Taking into account the current hazelnut areas, the association estimates the market at 6-8 thousand tons of nuts in the shell. Until 2021, Ukraine was a net importer, the capacity of the domestic market was at the level of 4 thousand tons of nuts in the shell. “Today, we already have our own hazelnuts, but almost 1,000 tons of kernels (4 thousand tons in the shell) are still imported. In January of this year, 140 tons of hazelnuts were imported. The popularity of this nut as a food product is growing, it is actively used in the manufacture of delicacies. This has contributed to both the growth of consumption and imports,” says Gennady Yudin, president of the Ukrainian Nut Association. Hazelnuts are imported to Ukraine mainly from Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. These countries export nuts to the EU. The largest buyers are Germany, the Netherlands, France, ...