Business opportunities for the hazelnut sector
At the beginning of July, Corylus, the National Association for the Promotion of the Hazel Tree, held the II Open Day "The Culture of the Hazel Tree", at Quinta da Avelã, Castelo Novo, in the municipality of Fundão. Soil Management and Fertilization in the Hazelnut Tree, Health, Mechanization of the Hazelnut Tree, Organization of Production in Chile, and the round table - Business Opportunities for the sector, were the themes that formed part of the initiative. The end of the day was filled with a field trip to Quinta da Avelã.
Corylus, the National Association for the Promotion of Hazelnut, is a young association set up in 2023 with the aim of promoting and developing the hazelnut sector. Rui Droga, president of Corylus, emphasizes that one of the main objectives of the Open Day is to increase knowledge about the hazelnut. "There's a lack of technical information because the crop has been 'drowned out' by other nuts, which have always had a bigger stage. The almond, the chestnut and, more recently, the pistachio have received more attention, leaving the hazelnut as the poor relation of nuts," stresses Rui Droga.
With the creation of Corylus, the association aims to change this reality and give the hazelnut tree the prominence it deserves.
Rui Droga also highlighted the benefits of hazelnuts, believing that despite the long road ahead, "hazelnuts can occupy a more important place in the nut sector".
The round table on business opportunities for the hazelnut sector was moderated by Paulo Gomes, director of Voz do Campo magazine, and included the participation of Nuno Serra - secretary-general of Confagri, Carlos Silva - vice-president of CNCFS, Gonçalo Andrade - president of Portugal Fresh and António Saraiva - executive director of Portugal Nuts.
Nuno Serra, secretary-general of Confagri, began by expressing his pleasure at the start of Corlyus. He stressed that unity and cooperation are the fundamental principles for achieving greater competitiveness in the market and facilitating the marketing of products. The secretary general of
Confagri also pointed out that, "although the quantities produced in the north of the Tagus are still far from those of the world's major players, we have a good quality product (... ). Product quality is the starting point for creating value".
Nuno Serra stressed that investment is crucial for the development of the hazelnut sector. This investment must not only come from the beneficiaries, but must also be stimulated by public support.
Carlos Silva began his speech by explaining the mission of the CNCFS, which involves collaborating with various organizations in the dried fruit sector. This collaboration aims to strengthen the production and marketing of nuts in Portugal. Regarding opportunities in the hazelnut sector, Carlos Silva recalled his 2018 visit to the headquarters of Ferrero (in Italy), one of the biggest players in the global hazelnut market. "Ferrero is the second largest chocolate company in the world after Nestlé," he said. During the visit, it was possible to learn from the best about the production, purchase and sale of hazelnuts.
Turkey leads world production with 65%, followed by Italy with 11%, Azerbaijan with 5%, and the remaining 19% distributed among other countries.
A crucial point observed during the visit was the organization of Italian producers. No producer with less than 1 hectare has their own machinery; instead, they work in producer groups to acquire the necessary equipment and receive technical assistance from cooperatives or associations. "Ferrero buys practically all the hazelnuts available on the world market and offers training to the cooperatives' technicians, guaranteeing a contract to sell the product for twenty years," explained Carlos Silva. Currently, among the nuts represented by CNCFS, hazelnuts and pistachios are the crops with the smallest area, but with great potential for growth and profitability. "The hazelnut crop has enormous market potential and profitability for farmers," he said.
Addressing the issue of investment, Carlos Silva stressed that this should be defined by the investor and not by decree. "It's important that the political authorities listen to the confederations, organizations, cooperatives and skills centers, adapting the legislation to the needs of the sector (... ), if they do that, they're already helping a lot," he appealed, stressing that "if we already have a series of problems such as pests, diseases, lack of water, the market, we have to have the conditions and tools to be able to work."
Gonçalo Andrade shared how far Portugal Fresh has come in the fruit and vegetable sector. "Portugal Fresh and its companies have tripled their exports in just 13 years of activity, from 780 million euros in 2010 to 2,303 million euros in 2023 (... ). The figures speak for themselves in terms of the sector's dynamics," he said.
For Gonçalo Andrade, the key to identifying market opportunities lies in understanding consumer dynamics. "The highest percentage of consumer growth worldwide until 2100 will occur in the next 12 years (... ). This is very relevant, because this growth will be driven by by the new generations, who are more concerned with balanced and healthy diets, where nuts play an important role," he said. Although the current supply of hazelnuts in Portugal is not very large, there is a significant opportunity if producers are strategic when selecting customers. "We need to be very surgical when selecting customers," he advised.
The president of Portugal Fresh strongly believes in differentiating Portuguese products as a strategy to stand out on the global market. "Portugal is the only country in the European Union that has an Atlantic influence on our latitude, similar to the part of California influenced by the Pacific," he explains. This unique characteristic should be used to sell Portuguese products, which are already valued in markets such as the Nordic countries.
He recognizes that competition in the global market is fierce and that it is crucial to know the markets where you want to be present. "We have to focus on the added value of the product for the country that is willing to pay," he said, stressing the importance of working hard to understand the particularities of the target markets.
During his speech, Gonçalo Andrade issued a challenge to Corylus, inviting the Association to take part in Fruit Attraction in Madrid, from October 8 to 1, as it is a "unique opportunity to promote fruit and vegetables and establish important contacts in the sector".
Also present at the round table, António Saraiva, executive director of Portugal Nuts, pointed out that nuts are adaptable to almost any diet, except for allergy sufferers. The sector has invested globally in scientific studies to support the health benefits associated with its products. "The sector has invested globally in substantiating what it says, so that they are not generalities, but facts that come from published scientific studies," said António Saraiva.
According to the executive director, it's not just the volume of production that matters, but also the value that the products can achieve.
"We don't have to be afraid of the small (...). It's not just the volume that's important, but the value," said António Saraiva. Although Portugal only has 701 hectares of hazelnuts, it is crucial to find consumers willing to pay a fair price for the quality and history of Portuguese products. "We must be ambitious in the story, the purpose and the value we ask for," he advised.
One of the major challenges mentioned by António Saraiva is the discrepancy between the prices paid for production and the prices on the market. "In the linear, consumers continue to pay prices as if there had been no deflation in production prices. It's important that large-scale distribution also plays this role of helping production to increase consumption. This is the great global challenge for nuts: to increase their consumption, especially almonds, because consumption fell a lot after Covid," he said. António Saraiva used the example of the success of almond production in Portugal to illustrate the potential of the hazelnut sector. "Why is there this almond 'miracle' in Portugal? Because in the first place there was land available, there was water, the opportunity for cultural diversification, the ability to invest and the experience of Spain", arguing that Portugal has the opportunity to serve markets in Northern Europe and be an alternative to the California almond".
It should be noted that Voz do Campo magazine was a media partner and broadcast the 1st Open Day "A Cultura da Aveleira" live. Watch the broadcast:
Remember the great interview with Corylus published in the May 2024 issue:
Source: Voz do Campo, 1 August 2024