In 2018, to produce its wafers and other chocolate-based products, Loacker has used 1.355 tons of Italian hazelnuts and, considering the company’s growth rate, it will use even more in the future.
To meet this need the company has launched a long term project, called “Noccioleti Italiani (Italian hazelnut plantations)” to expand independent hazel cultivation in Italy.
Loacker estimates that it will need to plant hazel trees on a total of 3,000 hectares. For this reason, in addition to Tuscany, the company has recently extended the project to other Italian regions: Umbria, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche, and Northern Lazio. In these areas, Loacker offers farmers to purchase their entire yield signing with them long-term supply contracts.
New areas for the cultivation of hazel trees have been also identified with the aim of introducing the cultivation of hazel in area previously intended for other uses. Thus, in the Marche region, on those hills that until today were famous for the production of Verdicchio wine, entrepreneurs have now the possibility to become part of Loackers’ 3,000-hectare project. Still, in the areas of central Italy, Loacker expects to extend the project to another 100 hectares of hazelnuts in Lazio.