"The Future of Hazelnut Production: Insights from Ferrero's 2025 Sustainability Report"
Just the facts
Global operations of The Ferrero Group are run from headquarters in Luxembourg.
Iconic hazelnut-centric brands include Nutella®, Kinder® and Ferrero Rocher®.
The company remains family held and employs in excess of 50,000 staff. The combined output from its 50 factories exceeds 1.5 million tonnes, making it the world’s third largest confectionary company. The company's brands are sold in more than 170 countries.
2025 the year that was. Looking Backwards to See Forward
A careful read of a company’s annual filings can shed light on their strategic future intent. Annual reports signal to shareholders and stakeholders where future growth opportunities lie and how resources and capital will be deployed to achieve these goals.
This is what we saw in Ferrero’s tea-leaves!
Future Hazelnut Agronomy and Orchard Research Directions
Ferrero Group runs its worldwide hazelnut operations through a business unit called “The Ferrero Hazelnut Company (FHCo). The unit employs 3,000 staff, 1,000 based in Turkey - focussed on improving tree genetics, agronomy, extension activities and new grower education.
Eight out of its listed 10 FHCo Hazelnut Agrofarms are reported as compliant with internationally recognised third-party sustainable agricultural standards.
Priority Orchard Investments
In the last financial period, the company reported a renewed focus on “Regrowing the Italian hazelnut value chain”, stressing the importance of strengthening the resilience of Italian hazelnut production against a backdrop of rising climate, pest and disease pressures.
“We are working to reinvigorate the Italian hazelnut-growing sector. With its expertise and knowledge,...to develop a modern and sustainable value chain by sharing the latest expertise with potential and existing growers.”
The company has invested in a network of six demonstration farms designed to showcase proven techniques to achieve and sustain plentiful harvests. Attendees at the Ferrero farms benefit from advice and practical learning on regenerative agriculture, traceability principles, and social and community issues.
The report talks of a new initiative ‘Progetto Nocciola Italia’ - a long-term contractual framework designed to support the redevelopment of hazelnut growing in historical production areas.
Support also appears to be directed toward new growing areas in Argentina, Serbia, North Macedonia and Bulgaria under the heading “Value Chain Development” on FHCo’s website.
Priority Hazelnut Research Areas
During the financial reporting period, Ferrero made a $350,000 investment to strengthen hazelnut production in the U.S, funding both Oregon State University ($180,000) and Rutgers University ($170,000). The funding supports the universities’ efforts to collaborate with local hazelnut farmers, and distributors to advance the industry's sustainability efforts. Ferrero claims to have invested more than $760,000 to OSU agriculture programs, however the time period of this support was not clear in the report.
Rutgers hazelnut breeding program received funding specifically to widen the uptake of disease resistant cultivars. Four new varieties, Raritan, Somerset, Monmouth and Hunterdon released in 2020 have proven resistant to the Eastern Filbert Blight fungal disease. More than 30 growers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York have now planted these trees.
“These cultivars, along with others in development, are expected to form the foundation of an expanding hazelnut industry in the mid-Atlantic” said Thomas Molnar from Rutgers University.
A comprehensive performance update on the four new cultivars can be found at The New York Nut Growers site;
An Update on New Cultivars from Rutgers University
Hazelnut Sustainability Commentary
Ferrero’s weighty 2025 Sustainability Report makes for an exhaustive read, driven by high EU standards for corporate ESG disclosure.
Pages 14 & 15 held particular interest. The company acknowledges it has a responsibility to reduce crop losses, enhance ecosystem services, and increase resilience to shocks through improvements in agricultural systems and practices. “Preservation and restoration of nature (biodiversity, water, ecosystem services)” “These include impacts on soil health; species decline due to the use of pesticides and nutrient pollution caused by use of fertilisers.”
No explicit commitments are made about using biological control as a form of hazelnut crop protection but the company has placed its obligations to reduce its overall farming impact in a “Top Priority Project” quadrant of a risk assessment matrix.
Value Added Hazelnut Innovation : New Product Development
During the last financial year (Q2 2025), Ferrero acquired US food giant Kellogg for $US4.7 billion. The acquisition included North American manufacturing facilities and brands Fruit Loops®, Special-K®, Frosted Flakes® and Rice Krispies®.
In our opinion, the Kelloggs acquisition demonstrates the multi-national’s designs on finding a healthier home for ingredients and flavours like hazelnuts and Nutella®. Now owners of Kellogg’s cereal brands - that come with a huge loyalty base permit Ferrero to pursue line extensions with relatively low risk while re-weighting their overall brand portfolio more toward the ”Breakfast and ‘between-meals eating episodes’ (BMEE) segment”.
This FMCG food category is huge and even small market share gains in the sector can produce disproportionate margins.
The company’s annual report talks of a €60million investment at their Villers Écalle site in France. The facility in Normandy is Ferrero’s largest production centre for the Nutella® hazelnut paste. About half of the investment is slated for specialty Nutella® products destined for food service and industrial applications as opposed to retail consumer items.
Undoubtedly in a carefully researched move, the Nutella® brand, once synonymous with hazelnuts is now extended into peanuts!
HOME-SWEET-HOME
Ferrero Australia had sales of a little over $AUD420 million for the year ending August 2025. (less than 2% of total Ferrero Group turnover).
The Australian business unit is headquartered in Sydney, and operates a single manufacturing site at Lithgow in the NSW Central West producing Nutella® hazelnut paste (approx 15,000 tonnes) and Tic-Tac® mints.
The 2025 Global Sustainability Report makes reference to a new electric roaster installed at the Lithgow plant, resulting in savings of 50% in scope 1 CO2 emissions.
Think Globally - Act Locally
The Australian business unit’s total revenue growth outpaces that of local peers, (Mondelez, Mars Wrigley and Nestle) to the tune of +10.4% total revenue change YoY, but lags behind its competitors at the Net Profit and Pre Tax margin line. The chart and table below reveal some basic financial indicators.
Ferrero Australia Total Revenue & NPAT
Sources
IBISWorld Company Reports Ferrero Australia Pty Limited @ 31st August 2025
IBISWorld Chocolate & Confectionary Manufacturing in Australia (C1182) August 2026
Fererro Sustainability Report 2025 accessed at 25/08/26. www.fererro.com
Food & Drink Business : 5th March 2025 www.foodanddrink
Author Adam Perkins spent almost twenty years in the food industry working locally and internationally with companies Mars, Heinz and Cadbury-Mondelēz.
