Turkey Hazelnut Guide

Processing facilities are mostly owned by Coops or exporting firms

-190 crushing plants w/ capacity of 1,800,000 MT/yr

-40 processing plants w/ capacity of 350,000MT/yr

Before hazelnut picking, the following prep work is done; flail or mow the orchard floor low to the ground so that the ripe, fallen nuts can be easily harvested, roll the orchard floor firmly to make it flatter and smoother, allowing the sweeper brushes on the harvester to sweep the hazelnuts off the ground efficiently as it passes.

Hazelnuts need to be harvested prior to the autumn rains. As the nuts ripen, they drop from the tree over the course of approximately six weeks. When the nuts are beginning to drop, the process can be facilitated by gently shaking the tree limbs to loosen the nuts from their perches. 

Harvest hazelnuts after they are fully mature and have dropped to the ground. Most growers wait for the nuts to fall, rather than shake them from the tree. First, the nuts are swept into rows, then picked up and separated from the debris. The nuts are then moved to a processing plant where they are cleaned, cured (dehydrated), and stored.

Source:

Hazelnut Picking: How And When To Harvest Hazelnuts

As per 2020 data (HS Code 080221 Shelled), Turkey is in the first position as the biggest hazelnut exporter with an export value of USD 1,111,326K, representing 59.4% of the export value worldwide. This was followed by Italy with USD 222,178 K export value (10.5%), Chile (8%) with an export value of USD 150,306K, Azerbaijan (6.1%) with an export value of USD 113,588K, and Georgia (4.4%) with an export value of USD 82,768K.

Although these companies take up 50% of total exports, we could target where they purchase the kernels from, which are the coops

Hazelnuts, also known as filberts and cobnuts, begin to ripen as hazel tree leaves change color. Most ripe nuts are found in September and October, depending on the weather.

Hazelnuts thrive in regions of mild, moist winters combined with cool summers, and produce nuts around 4 years of age but don’t really become productive until closer to 7 years of age. Clusters of blossoms appear in the late winter to early spring between February and March. Once the flowers are pollinated, nuts begin to form. Over the course of the summer months, the nuts continue to mature leading up to the harvesting of hazelnuts in October. Once the nuts have been harvested, the tree will become dormant until the next spring.

Source:

Hazelnut Picking: How And When To Harvest Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts: where and when to forage

The grades classification of hazelnut varies according to region.

According to the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC), classification is made according to the amount of defects allowed. The grades include Extra Class, Class I, and Class II, which are listed in the following tables:

Source:

Hazelnut Technical Information Kit

a. Common Hazel or Corylus avellana

The common hazel is a small tree, native to Europe and Western Asia. It is characterized by multiple stems, and the younger stems are usually bronze in color, while the mature stems are brown. The buds are oval-shaped and green in color. The nuts of the common hazel can be oval or spherical in shape, and they can be about 12 to 20 mm broad and 15 to 20 mm long.

b. Filbert or Corylus maxima

The filbert looks quite similar to the common hazelnut. It is classified as a deciduous shrub and is native to Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia. The tree typically reaches a height of about 6 to 10 m. The leaves are almost round with a double-serrated margin, just like the leaves of the common hazel. The filbert can be distinguished from the common hazel by its fully-enclosed nuts and long involucres.

Varieties can be gathered in three groups, belonging to the three following subspecies:

1. Corylus avellana racemosa Lam.: Hazelnuts grouped in clusters, round and very voluminous, often netted. ‘Santa Maria de Jesús", ‘San Juan", ‘San Nicolás", and ‘San Cono’.

2. Corylus avellana glandulosa Lin.: Hazelnut with acorn shape, variable size, with a cone shape of the narrower base and acuminate apex. Not a very hard shell. ‘Ghiannusa, ‘Cannellina, ‘Minnulara, ‘Panuttara, Baccilara, ‘Muddisi, ‘Piattiddara, common hazel, ordinary hazel, hazel of Spain, etc.

3. Corylus avellana Máxima Lam.: Spheric or round shape, bulky or medium fruit, hard shell. Commonly known as Napolitano hazel. ‘Badara ubertosa, ‘Cerro, ‘Pigra, ‘Privitera, ‘Balzanotto, ‘San Giorgio, ‘Reganati, ‘Rizo, ‘San Elmo, hazel of England, netted hazel, etc.

Sources:

Hazelnut tree identification

Types varieties hazelnut

According to the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC), international regulations have been established to control the chemical, microbiological, pesticide, and contaminant content of hazelnuts. These regulations oversee the quality of the form of the nuts, chemical parameters, pesticides, contaminants, and quality assurance programs.

1. Quality of the Form

In-Shell

• Whole
  

- Dried

- Sound

- Free from visible mold filaments

- Free from living pests

- Free from damage caused by pests (including their presence, debris or excreta)

- Free from abnormal external moisture

- Free from foreign smell and/or taste

• Shell
  

- Intact (slight superficial damage is not considered a defect)

- Clean (adhering husk ≤ 5% of the total shell surface)

- Free from blemishes, areas of discoloration or spread stains (≤ 20% of the surface of the shell)

- Well-formed

• Kernel
  

- Free from rancidity

- Sufficiently developed (fill at least 50% of the shell cavity)

- Not desiccated (< 25% of the surface of the kernel)

- Free from blemishes, areas of discoloration or spread stains (< 25% of the surface of the kernel)

- Well-formed

Kernels

- Intact (scraping < 3 mm in diameter and 1.5 mm in depth shall not be considered as a defect)

- Sound

- Clean (practically free of foreign matter)

- Sufficiently developed (desiccated, dried out or tough portions < 50% of the kernel)

- Free from blemishes, areas of discoloration or spread stains (< 25% of the surface of the shell)

- Free from living pests

- Free from damage caused by pests (including their presence, debris or excreta. However, pest damage caused by cimiciato is allowed, provided that there is only one pot on the kernel < 3 mm in diameter and in depth)

- Free from visible mold filaments

- Free from rancidity

- Free of abnormal external moisture

- Free of foreign smell and/or taste

2. Chemical Parameters

The chemical parameters are based on moisture, free fatty acids, and peroxide value, which are listed in the following table:

3. Pesticides

The use of chemicals is carefully regulated and so they must be used responsibly. Producers should be aware of all rules regarding the products they use and the maximum residue limits in the destination market.

4. Contaminants

The contaminants factor refers to the level of aflatoxins in the hazelnut, which varies by country.

5. Quality Assurance Programs

The following programs are endorsed by the industry:

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which provide growers guidelines and principles to apply to on-farm production and postproduction processes, to provide safe and healthy nuts, minimizing potential hazards, such as pathogens, contaminants and pest management materials.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), which define procedures to be used in the processing, packaging, storing and transport stages by handlers to ensure the quality of the product. GMP are used by handlers to treat hazelnuts under the best sanitary conditions.

Good Storage Practices (GSP), which provide procedures that should be in place in the post-harvest, processing and transport stages by handlers to control the moisture content and temperature and to minimize the levels of fungi (especially aflatoxins) and insects.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), which provides a systematic preventive approach to food safety that identifies, assesses and controls the risk of biological, chemical and physical hazards in production processes.

Source:

Hazelnut Technical Information Kit

The key end-users of the hazelnut market are individual consumers, food service establishments, and industries. Wide applications of hazelnuts have increased the demand for hazelnuts in the market, but bad weather conditions have affected the production of the hazelnuts in past few years. Shortage of hazelnuts has increased the price and affordability issues among the end-users. The increase in demand for candlenut is inseparable from the growth in the chocolate and confectionery industries because most of the nuts are used as raw materials for this industry.

Source:

Global Hazelnut Market 2017-2021: Impact of Increase in Average Unit Price on Consumption - Research and Markets

Mid-Term Impact of Climate Change on Hazelnut Yield