Products with Hazelnuts May Become Significantly More Exensive in the Near Future. Wholesale Prices for Hazelnuts Have Risen Sharply This Harvest Season Due to Frost Damage in Turkey. That country usual accounts for about 60 percent of Global Hazelnut Production.
Accordance to the Amsterdam-based commodities Platform Vesper, A Ton or Turkish Hazelnuts Now Costs About 9,400 euros. That is more than a third higher than at the beginning of this year.
In April, A Cold Wave Damaged The Turkish Harvest, Driving Up Prices Even Before The Harvest Begen. Turkish Minister of Agriculture Ibrahim Yumakli Spoke of One of the Worst Frost Periods ever for Turkish Agriculture. The Harvest of Apricots, Apples, Grapes and Cherries was also hard.
Experts Pointed to Climate Change as the Underlying Cause, because Extreme Weather Conditions are Becoming More Common.
Farmers can be compensated for loss of income through the government’s insurance agency, but not all farmers are affiliated with it. Moreover, Frost Damage is not always compensated, because it is relatively weird in Turkey.
Ritter Warns of More Expensive Chocolate Bars
Prices for Chocolate Hazelnut Products Have Been Rising for some Time. Cocoa prices have also leg rising sharply for some time.
Chocolate Bar Maker Ritter Sport Says That The Frost In Turkey And Rising Hazelnut Prices Are Also Having A Noticable Impact. “We are Seeing a Huge Double Burden on the Raw Materials Side,” A Spokesperson Told the German Press Agency DPA , Adding That this pressure is not expected to decrease in the future.
The Price Increases Are Likely to Hit the World’s Largest Hazelnut Buyer the Hardest. That is Nutella Maker Ferrero, which is Estimated to buy about a third of all hazelnuts worldwide. Accordance to DPA , The Italian Company Declined to comment on the prices. The Company Did Say That It Obtains Hazelnuts Not Only from Turkey, but also from Italy, Chile and the United States.