THE makers of Nutella, Italian confectionary giant Ferrero has planted the last of one million hazel trees in NSW, part of a $70 million investment.

Ferrero is the world’s biggest producer of hazelnuts, with about one third of the world’s production going into their products including Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Bueno.

For the company, the planting on one farm near Narrendera on the NSW Riverina Plains spreads global crop failure risk and provides a hazelnuts supply counter-seasonal to Turkey, the main producer.

Ferrero is seeking to diversify its supply of hazelnuts globally and reduce the 2000 tonnes of hazelnut it imports each year into Australia to supply its Lithgow (NSW) Nutella factory.

The massive planting phase of the project which ended this month began five years ago and the first nuts are due to come off its earliest four-year-old trees in March next year.

Within the next four years, the Ferrero plantations are expected to produce 5000 tonnes of hazelnuts a year, exploding the scale of Australia’s boutique hazelnut industry and its current annual 170-tonne production thirtyfold.

Every jar of Nutella contains 50 hazelnuts, with more than 365 million kilograms of the sugary chocolate and nut breakfast spread consumed in 160 countries around the world.

MORE: Australians eating more chocolate, Roy Morgan Research

MORE: Ferrero’s Australian hazelnut plantations feed global demand

MORE: Ferrero Group buys major hazelnut farm in Turkey

MORE: Nestle confirms sale of US confectionery business to Ferrero

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