Hazelnuts

Through subsidiary Olam Progida we are a leading supplier of natural and semi-finished hazelnut kernel products grown by farmers in Turkey and Georgia.

We maximise the full range of hazelnut varieties and kernel sizes to develop new and exciting ingredients for the confectionery, bakery, ice cream and other applications. These include natural selected, roasted, blanched, diced, and paste ingredients carefully produced to retain and bring out flavour, texture and aroma.

Our on-the-ground presence with farmers means we can help them to improve productivity and quality, as well as labour conditions for workers. It also improves traceability. This is backed by stipulations in the Olam Supplier Code.

Sourcing

Turkey accounts for more than 70% of the world’s annual production of hazelnuts as the climatic conditions in the Turkish Black Sea Coast area are ideal for growing hazelnuts. Strong relationships with farmers, intermediary traders and crackers in the growing areas span more than 100 years and have been nurtured to establish mutually beneficial relationships. With many farm owners having second jobs in the towns, agronomy knowledge is sometimes limited so our teams in both Turkey and Georgia work with almost 5,000 farmers under the Olam Livelihood Charter to help improve yields and quality, and therefore incomes.

Processing

We operate a modern state-of-the-art ingredients factory in Giresun and cracking facilities in different regions of the Black Sea Coast. As an alternative supply to Turkey, we have established operations in Georgia where our facility in Zugdidi is the most advanced in the country.

We manufacture to customer specifications. Product categories include natural extra selected hazelnut kernels and value added processed products such as roasted hazelnut kernels, blanched hazelnut kernels, roasted and diced hazelnut kernels, and hazelnut paste. In the domestic snack food segment, we operate under the brand ‘Fndkç’.

We are committed to food safety and quality. We have achieved relevant certifications such as BRC, IFS 5.0 (Higher Level), ISO 22000:2005, ISO 9001:2008 and GMP. We can also offer Organic, Kosher and Halal.

Products

We manufacture natural and semi-finished hazelnut kernel products.

Turkey is by far the world’s largest producer of hazelnut kernels. Turkish hazelnut kernels are always available in sufficient quantities and at high quality and are excellently suited to being processed in the food industry.

We manufacture all of our products in our factory after careful consultation with our customers and in accordance with their exact specifications:

Natural Hazelnut Kernels

Standard sizes 11-13 mm and 13-15 mm, but also other calibres
Packaging: vacuum bag weighing 25 kg or 2 x 12.5 kg in a covering box, big bags

Hazelnut Kernels Roasted

Various degrees of roasting
Packaging: vacuum bag weighing 25 kg or 2 x 12.5 kg in a covering box

Hazelnut Kernels Blanched

Blanched (white) hazelnut kernels
Packaging: vacuum bag weighing 25 kg or 2 x 12.5 kg in a covering box, big bags

Hazelnut Kernels Chopped

Diced goods of the spectrums 1-3 mm, 2-4 or 5-7 mm or in any other size
Packaging: vacuum bag weighing 25 kg or 2 x 12.5 kg in a covering box, big bags

Flour Made of Hazelnut Kernels

Flour at different degrees of roasting and with different grain sizes
Packaging: vacuum bag weighing 25kg or 2 x 12.5 kg in a covering box

Paste Made of Hazelnut Kernels

Paste made from roast hazelnut kernels at different degrees of roasting and in different colours
Packaging: plastic and metal containers weighing 30 / 60 / 200 kg, Tank container with 24 t capacity or heated tank truck with 22 t capacity

Organic Hazelnut Kernels

Processing of hazelnut kernels from controlled organic cultivation.

Fndkç- The Crunchy Taste

Progida presents its customers packaged hazelnuts as snacks under the trademark of Fndkç.

"Thanks to our position as a top 2 exporter from Turkey, farmers and intermediaries prioritise Olam as a guaranteed buyer, enabling us to offer customers consistent and reliable supply.”

Ufuk Ozongun

Vice President, Hazel Nuts