HAZELNUTS
Hazelnuts are the edible nuts of hazel trees in the genus Corylus, especially the common hazel (Corylus avellana). Depending on the species and region, they are also known as cobnuts or filberts.
Hazelnuts are widely eaten as a snack and are used in baking, desserts, breakfast cereals such as muesli, and confectionery. They are an important ingredient in pralines, chocolate truffles, chocolate bars, and hazelnut spreads such as Nutella. They are also used to flavor Frangelico liqueur. Hazelnut oil has a rich flavor and a high content of monounsaturated fats, making it popular for cooking and as a dressing for salads and vegetables.
Hazelnuts are enclosed in a fibrous outer husk that surrounds a hard, smooth shell. Cobnuts are generally round to oval, measuring about 15–25 millimeters (⅝–1 inch) long and 10–15 millimeters (⅜–⅝ inch) in diameter. Filberts are more elongated, with a length about twice their diameter. The nuts mature about 7–8 months after pollination, and the ripe nuts naturally separate from their husks.
The edible seed may be eaten raw, roasted, or ground into a paste. It is covered by a thin, dark brown skin that is sometimes removed before processing or cooking. Depending on the cultivar, the kernel makes up about 33–50 percent of the total fruit. Cultivars grown near the Mediterranean Sea generally have the highest kernel-to-fruit ratio.
Archaeologists have found large quantities of hazelnut shells in Mesolithic (1200- 9000 B.C.) and and Neolithic (9000-4000 B.C) sites in what is now Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Evidence fo hazelnuts in China dates to around 3000 B.C. In 1995, evidence of large-scale nut processing, some 9,000 years old ago, was found in a midden pit on the island of Colonsay in Scotland. The evidence consists of a large, shallow pit full of the remains of hundreds of thousands of burned hazelnut shells. The nuts were radiocarbon dated to 7720+/-110BP, which calibrates to circa 6000 BC. Similar sites in Britain are known only at Farnham in Surrey and Cass ny Hawin on the Isle of Man. [Source: Hazelnut Hill, Wikipedia]
Hazelnut Cultivation
Hazelnuts come from trees that are typically spaced 5 to 6 meters apart in an orchard. This standard spacing allows the trees enough room to grow large, catch wind-driven pollen from other trees, and let farm machines move safely between the rows. [Source: Government of British Columbia]
Many hazelnut cultivars have been developed for commercial production, including 'Barcelona', 'Butler', 'Casina', 'Clark', 'Cosford', 'Daviana', 'Ennis', 'Halls Giant', 'Kent Cob', 'Lewis', 'Tonda Gentile', 'Tonda di Giffoni', 'Tonda Romana', 'Wanliss Pride', and 'Willamette'. Some cultivars are selected for desirable traits such as large nuts, high yields, or early or late ripening, while others are grown primarily as pollinizers. Most commercial hazelnut trees are propagated from root sprouts, and some cultivars are hybrids between the common hazel and the filbert. [Source: Wikipedia]
In Europe, hazelnuts have traditionally been grown as multi-stemmed trees growing on their own roots. Modern orchards often use grafted trees with a single trunk, using Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna) as the rootstock. This system reduces the production of root suckers and makes mechanical harvesting easier.
Weed control is an important part of orchard management because heavy weed growth can reduce yields by competing for water and nutrients. Many orchards use herbicides to maintain weed-free strips beneath the trees, while others plant cover crops to suppress weeds, improve soil health, and reduce erosion without significantly affecting production.
Some growers also use agroforestry systems in which livestock, such as pigs, graze beneath the trees, or crops are grown between orchard rows. These systems can provide additional income and improve soil fertility through animal manure or nitrogen-fixing plants. However, they may also limit pest-control options and can affect crop quality and yields. Because these production systems have been studied less extensively than conventional orchards, their long-term performance is less certain.
Hazelnut Harvesting
Hazelnuts are harvested each year in mid-autumn after the ripe nuts naturally fall from the trees. Most commercial growers wait for the nuts to drop rather than shaking the trees. The nuts are then collected either by hand or with mechanical harvesting equipment. [Source: Wikipedia]
Commercial harvesting typically uses four main machines: a sweeper, a harvester, a nut cart, and a forklift. The sweeper gathers fallen nuts into the center of each orchard row. The harvester lifts the nuts from the ground and separates them from leaves, twigs, empty husks, and other debris. The cleaned nuts are transferred to a nut cart, and a forklift moves full containers to drying and processing facilities while replacing them with empty ones.
Sweepers use rotating brushes or belts and powerful air blowers to move nuts into narrow windrows that can be collected efficiently. Orchard maintenance throughout the year helps reduce debris and minimizes the need for hand raking around tree trunks, where nuts often accumulate. Depending on weather conditions and how quickly the nuts fall, orchards may be harvested two or three times during the season.
Harvesters use rotating tines, conveyors, blowers, and vacuum systems to separate nuts from soil and plant material. Growers generally follow one of two harvesting strategies. Some begin harvesting after about half the crop has fallen, making several passes through the orchard. Others wait until nearly all the nuts have dropped and harvest the entire crop in a single pass. Each method balances harvesting speed, labor requirements, and the risk of losing nuts because of weather or prolonged exposure on the ground.
Hazelnut Producing Countries
In 2023, world production of hazelnuts (in shells) was 1.13 million tonnes led by Turkey with 57.7 percent of the world total,. Hazelnuts production in 2023 (tonnes): 1) Turkey: 650,000; 2) Italy: 102,740; 3) United States: 85,460; 4) Azerbaijan: 75,409; 5) Chile: 65,647; 7) Georgia: 36,900; World: 1,125,221. [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Producers of Hazelnuts, with Shell (2020): 1) Turkey: 665000 tonnes; 2) Italy: 140560 tonnes; 3) United States: 64410 tonnes; 4) Azerbaijan: 49465 tonnes; 5) Chile: 33939 tonnes; 6) Georgia: 32700 tonnes; 7) China: 24263 tonnes; 8) Iran: 13407 tonnes; 9) France: 9690 tonnes; 10) Poland: 7600 tonnes; 11) Serbia: 6689 tonnes; 12) Spain: 5450 tonnes; 13) Kyrgyzstan: 4295 tonnes; 14) Uzbekistan: 3653 tonnes; 15) Croatia: 3040 tonnes; 16) Romania: 1580 tonnes; 17) Belarus: 1266 tonnes; 18) Greece: 1190 tonnes; 19) Tajikistan: 1005 tonnes; 20) Bulgaria: 850 tonnes
World’s Top Producers (in terms of value) of Hazelnuts, with Shell (2019): 1) Turkey: Int.$2665572,000 ; 2) Italy: Int.$338432,000 ; 3) Azerbaijan: Int.$184769,000 ; 4) United States: Int.$137118,000 ; 5) Chile: Int.$120218,000 ; 6) China: Int.$100702,000 ; 7) Georgia: Int.$82435,000 ; 8) Iran: Int.$55373,000 ; 9) Spain: Int.$42489,000 ; 10) France: Int.$40050,000 ; 11) Poland: Int.$18685,000 ; 12) Kyrgyzstan: Int.$18373,000 ; 13) Serbia: Int.$16999,000 ; 14) Uzbekistan: Int.$16652,000 ; 15) Croatia: Int.$6732,000 ; 16) Belarus: Int.$4180,000 ; 17) Greece: Int.$3778,000 ; 18) Tajikistan: Int.$3452,000 ; 19) Bulgaria: Int.$1477,000 ; 20) Armenia: Int.$1192,000 [An international dollar (Int.$) buys a comparable amount of goods in the cited country that a U.S. dollar would buy in the United States]
Hazelnut Exporting Countries
World’s Top Exporters of Hazelnuts, without Shell (2020): 1) Turkey: 156750 tonnes; 2) Italy: 25475 tonnes; 3) Azerbaijan: 17867 tonnes; 4) Chile: 17256 tonnes; 5) Georgia: 13484 tonnes; 6) Netherlands: 6768 tonnes; 7) Germany: 6255 tonnes; 8) Czechia: 2144 tonnes; 9) United States: 1988 tonnes; 10) Spain: 1413 tonnes; 11) France: 817 tonnes; 12) Armenia: 658 tonnes; 13) Canada: 505 tonnes; 14) Lithuania: 498 tonnes; 15) Austria: 479 tonnes; 16) Bulgaria: 397 tonnes; 17) Belarus: 394 tonnes; 18) Belgium: 386 tonnes; 19) Poland: 340 tonnes; 20) United Arab Emirates: 338 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Hazelnuts, without Shell (2020): 1) Turkey: US$1111302,000; 2) Italy: US$221467,000; 3) Chile: US$150277,000; 4) Azerbaijan: US$113588,000; 5) Georgia: US$82178,000; 6) Germany: US$53729,000; 7) Netherlands: US$50349,000; 8) Czechia: US$16763,000; 9) United States: US$16690,000; 10) Spain: US$10553,000; 11) France: US$6573,000; 12) Austria: US$4340,000; 13) Lithuania: US$3592,000; 14) Armenia: US$3219,000; 15) Belgium: US$3135,000; 16) Canada: US$2800,000; 17) Poland: US$2727,000; 18) Sweden: US$2596,000; 19) Bulgaria: US$2421,000; 20) Slovakia: US$2363,000
World’s Top Exporters of Hazelnuts, with Shell (2020): 1) United States: 19559 tonnes; 2) France: 3721 tonnes; 3) Georgia: 3167 tonnes; 4) Hong Kong: 2706 tonnes; 5) Spain: 2423 tonnes; 6) Romania: 1528 tonnes; 7) Poland: 1408 tonnes; 8) Azerbaijan: 1025 tonnes; 9) Chile: 909 tonnes; 10) Italy: 861 tonnes; 11) Russia: 824 tonnes; 12) Turkey: 359 tonnes; 13) Netherlands: 216 tonnes; 14) Austria: 215 tonnes; 15) Armenia: 166 tonnes; 16) United Arab Emirates: 127 tonnes; 17) Czechia: 101 tonnes; 18) Belgium: 84 tonnes; 19) Germany: 79 tonnes; 20) Canada: 62 tonnes
World’s Top Exporters (in value terms) of Hazelnuts, with Shell (2020): 1) United States: US$81537,000; 2) Spain: US$16331,000; 3) France: US$14567,000; 4) Georgia: US$8963,000; 5) Hong Kong: US$6045,000; 6) Romania: US$4801,000; 7) Italy: US$3782,000; 8) Chile: US$3351,000; 9) Azerbaijan: US$2747,000; 10) Poland: US$2743,000; 11) Austria: US$1724,000; 12) Turkey: US$1238,000; 13) Netherlands: US$1003,000; 14) Czechia: US$761,000; 15) United Arab Emirates: US$709,000; 16) Germany: US$529,000; 17) Belgium: US$387,000; 18) Armenia: US$344,000; 19) Canada: US$141,000; 20) Lithuania: US$127,000
Hazelnut Importing Countries
World’s Top Importers of Hazelnuts, without Shell (2020): 1) Germany: 68709 tonnes; 2) Italy: 61320 tonnes; 3) France: 23106 tonnes; 4) Russia: 14079 tonnes; 5) Canada: 10033 tonnes; 6) Switzerland: 9038 tonnes; 7) Netherlands: 7011 tonnes; 8) Spain: 5057 tonnes; 9) Brazil: 4758 tonnes; 10) Poland: 4700 tonnes; 11) Belgium: 4659 tonnes; 12) United States: 4161 tonnes; 13) Egypt: 4070 tonnes; 14) Austria: 3586 tonnes; 15) Czechia: 3300 tonnes; 16) Australia: 3199 tonnes; 17) China: 2509 tonnes; 18) United Kingdom: 2119 tonnes; 19) Romania: 2083 tonnes; 20) Tunisia: 1667 tonnes [Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization (U.N.), fao.org]
World’s Top Importers (in value terms) of Hazelnuts, without Shell (2020): 1) Germany: US$507240,000; 2) Italy: US$457111,000; 3) France: US$183162,000; 4) Russia: US$80820,000; 5) Canada: US$79178,000; 6) Switzerland: US$65105,000; 7) Netherlands: US$48496,000; 8) Poland: US$43190,000; 9) Belgium: US$39101,000; 10) Spain: US$36865,000; 11) United States: US$30821,000; 12) Brazil: US$30115,000; 13) Austria: US$28605,000; 14) Egypt: US$26634,000; 15) Australia: US$25435,000; 16) China: US$22540,000; 17) Czechia: US$22126,000; 18) United Kingdom: US$15603,000; 19) Greece: US$10921,000; 20) Turkey: US$10431,000
World’s Top Importers of Hazelnuts, with Shell (2020): 1) China: 8364 tonnes; 2) Italy: 7918 tonnes; 3) Canada: 4762 tonnes; 4) Hong Kong: 3685 tonnes; 5) Russia: 2181 tonnes; 6) Thailand: 1621 tonnes; 7) Germany: 1430 tonnes; 8) Spain: 877 tonnes; 9) Chile: 409 tonnes; 10) France: 330 tonnes; 11) Saudi Arabia: 319 tonnes; 12) Austria: 257 tonnes; 13) Netherlands: 217 tonnes; 14) United Kingdom: 210 tonnes; 15) Uzbekistan: 209 tonnes; 16) Algeria: 174 tonnes; 17) Armenia: 154 tonnes; 18) Iraq: 127 tonnes; 19) Romania: 127 tonnes; 20) Belgium: 125 tonnes
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Food and Agriculture Organization, Wikipedia., New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, Lonely Planet Guides, and various books and other publications.
Last updated July 2026