Hazelnuts are a major product for agriculture in Georgia. As one of the country’s top 10 export commodities, they are a source of income for more than 50,000 farmers and dozens of processing facilities.
The country’s subtropical climate by the Black Sea shore offers particularly favourable conditions for their growth, luring international confectionary giants such as Ferrero to invest in local production. “The livelihoods of around half of the Samegrelo region’s population are closely linked to hazelnut farming. In villages, almost everyone grows them. Cultivating hazelnuts is what helped us overcome the hardships of the 1990s,” said Demur Ardia, owner of SRT, one of the processing facilities in the Samegrelo region, the main homeland of hazelnut plantations and orchards in Georgia.
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After more than 22 years in the business, Mr Ardia only recently decided to open his own hazelnut processing facility. For two years in a row his company has ranked among the top hazelnut exporters in terms of volume, exporting mainly to Germany and Italy, sometimes to the Czech Republic.
“Turkey is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of hazelnuts, it sets prices worldwide. Georgian hazelnuts are often sold at a discount compared to Turkish ones, so our focus should be on productivity and quality to achieve higher prices and a bigger piece of the pie,” said Mr Ardia.
The EBRD and the European Union (EU), under its EU4Business initiative, support Demur Ardia and other small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with similar drive and passion in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to help them to secure that bigger piece of the pie. Each of these three countries benefits from the free trade area with the EU, the world’s largest trading block with 500 million consumers, according to the EBRD.
Access to finance and knowledge
Competitive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered the backbone of any economy and Georgia’s is no exception. While the country has made significant progress outperforming other EU Eastern Partnership countries in creating a favourable institutional and operational environment for SMEs, challenges remain. Enhanced access to finance, deeper knowledge of export market opportunities and boosting innovation are considered crucial for further SME growth.
The EBRD and the EU help SMEs in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to integrate European standards in their work by investing in production upgrades, boosting growth and increasing competitiveness not only on the European market but their local market as well. Through partner banks, the EBRD provides credit lines for companies to foster stronger economic ties with the EU, which are complemented by grant incentives by the EU under its EU4Business initiative.
Read the story in the upcoming edition of the Clipper Magazine.
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The Clipper is the market leader in global information about nuts and dried fruit: Production and Consumption trends, science and technology, marketing and business strategies for Coconuts, Peanuts, Cashew nuts, Almonds, Walnuts, Chestnuts, Betel nuts, Hazelnuts, Pistachios, Kola nuts, Macadamia Nuts, Brazil nuts and dried fruit.
Learn more about the Clipper at https://agropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AGROPRESS-CLIPPER-2017-MEDIA-KIT-ENGLISH.pdf
The Clipper is the market leader in global information about nuts and dried fruit: Production and Consumption trends, science and technology, marketing and business strategies for Coconuts, Peanuts, Cashew nuts, Almonds, Walnuts, Chestnuts, Betel nuts, Hazelnuts, Pistachios, Kola nuts, Macadamia Nuts, Brazil nuts and dried fruit.
Learn more about the Clipper at https://agropress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AGROPRESS-CLIPPER-2017-MEDIA-KIT-ENGLISH.pdf