Ferrero Hazelnut Company, a division of global sweet-packaged food company the Ferrero Group, recently expanded its investment in U.S.-grown hazelnuts with $340,000 in research grants to two universities, including $160,000 to Rutgers.
The second grant recipient is Oregon State University, which will receive $180,000, according to Ferrero, whose North American headquarters is in Parsippany. The grants will support the two universities’ collaborative efforts with local farmers, producers, and distributors, to advance sustainability and efficiency in the industry.
Hazelnuts are an essential ingredient for Ferrero’s brands like Ferrero Rocher, the No. 1 premium chocolate brand in the United States, and Nutella, a leading spreads snack.
As a versatile, premium ingredient, hazelnuts are in high demand during seasonal celebrations across North America, such as the upcoming winter holidays. To ensure year-around availability, the company has diversified its hazelnut sourcing globally to support its rapid growth, especially in North America.
“Our mission is to master the hazelnut value chain from end-to-end to create and deliver value in service of customers, brands, and products,” said Tommaso de Gregorio, Head of Ferrero’s Agri Competence Center. “This is particularly important in North America where we have invested billions of dollars in growth and innovation over the past decade.”
New Jersey has emerged as a leader in introducing hazelnut growing to the East Coast, supported by research and breeding programs at Rutgers University. The $160,000 grant announced on Nov. 14 will be donated to Rutgers over four years as part of a long-term disease study, which supports the development of hazelnut varieties that can resist Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) through genetic improvement.
This funding for Rutgers is on top of $100,000 from a partnership with Ferrero that started in 2020, the company said.
“Our team at Rutgers is breeding trees resistant to the fungal disease Eastern Filbert Blight, which severely limits the production of hazelnuts in New Jersey and throughout the East Coast,” said Thomas Molnar, associate professor in the Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
“With Ferrero’s generous support, our program is helping to unlock hazelnut production in eastern North America while providing a means to combat this disease if it spreads to new regions of the world,” Molnar said.
Ferrero has had a long-standing partnership with Oregon State University and that state’s growers to foster and strengthen hazelnut cultivation in the Willamette Valley. Recently the company has doubled its hazelnut sourcing from the area and to date has donated over $760,000 to OSU agriculture programs.
Ferrero’s latest grant of $180,000 to Oregon State University will support multiple ongoing projects including biological control of invasive species, diseases, and fungi as well as integrated weed management within orchards, all with the goal of reducing herbicide.
Photo caption: Thomas Molnar, associate professor in the Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, at a New Jersey hazelnut orchard where he and his team are supporting genetic improvement and the study of hazelnuts. – Credit: Rutgers University.
