The recent surge in hazelnut prices has led to speculations that the price of Nutella, the popular hazelnut-chocolate spread, may sharply increase as well.
The spike in the nut's prices is due to the fact that Turkey, which produces 70 percent of the world’s hazelnuts, have been plagued by bad weather in recent months, with hailstorms and frosts destroying nearly 70 percent of the crops, causing prices to go up – the highest they have been in 10 years.
Using 25 percent of the world’s hazelnut supplies, Ferrero, the Italian company that produces Nutella, is the world’s largest buyer of hazelnuts. As much as 50 hazelnuts go in each jar of Nutella. Ferrero has stated that there will be no shortages: stocks of Nutella are safe. "We are tracking this issue closely and there’s no foreseeable impact on the availability of Nutella," said a spokesperson for Ferrero USA. "As always, we will maintain the high quality of the Nutella product that consumers know and love.” Ferrero did not say if pricing would be affected.
Across the world last year, Nutella sold $2.46 billion worth of the spread. It is one of the most popular chocolate products in the U.S., accounting for over 70 percent of the sales of chocolate spreads there, with sales up 5.9 percent in 2013.
