March 29, 2024

I caught this story on the Weather Network website today. It seems that the company that makes Nutella, Ferrero, uses a huge amount of the worlds Hazelnut production and may have trouble sourcing those magical hazelnuts because of weather problems.

Nutella Shortage?

nutella shortageFans of Nutella could soon be stocking up on their favourite treat, as bad weather has lead to a global shortage of hazelnuts.

Hail storms and March frosts destroyed hazelnut flowers growing on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, an area that produces 70% of the world’s hazelnut supply.

Although the extent of the damage to the crops is not yet known, suppliers are estimating that there could be a shortfall of 260,000 tonnes of hazelnuts this season.

This has pushed up the price of hazelnuts from $7,000 per tonne in February to $11,400 per tonne, which could cause further problems for snack manufacturers already struck by rising prices. The price of cocoa has also rocketed in recent months to a three-year high, caused in part by increasing demand for chocolate in countries like China and India.

Ferrero, which makes Ferrero Rocher and the popular hazelnut spread Nutella, uses 25% of the world’s hazelnut crop.

No matter how you feel about climate change, weather has a huge effect on lots of crops as we see with oranges whenever there is a frost in Florida. Anyway, Nutella even with just a “hint” of cocoa is really no healthy food really but I can tell you it is a sweet and yummy breakfast alternative for me occasionally. I think I better stock up before the price increases.

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