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As the hazelnut harvest wraps up for the season, growers across New Zealand are calling for more research and support to help expand the country's small but promising hazelnut industry.

Currently, New Zealand growers supply only 10–15% of the roughly 200 tonnes of hazelnuts consumed domestically each year. The Hazelnut Growers’ Association of New Zealand, representing about 70 growers, processors, and marketers, believes there's huge potential to increase local production and reduce reliance on imports.

In Marlborough, Deb Whiteside and her husband Alan Crawford left public sector roles in 2021 to take over Uncle Joe’s—a five-acre hazelnut orchard and processing facility in Grovetown. They’ve had a strong crop this season and process nuts both from their trees and those of other growers, also producing hazelnut oil on site.

“There’s room to grow this industry,” said Whiteside. “We don’t export yet, but we’ve got contracts with larger bakeries and opportunities to develop both high-value niche products and everyday staples like whole kernels.”

She noted that New Zealand-grown hazelnuts are often fresher than imported alternatives, which can spend weeks in transit. “We crack to order—our nuts are rarely more than four to six weeks old.”

The local industry remains small and largely artisan in nature, especially when compared to global heavyweights like the US and Turkey. However, Whiteside says the growers here have deep expertise and a strong willingness to collaborate.

With mature trees yielding anywhere from 1 to 7 kilograms of nuts depending on variety and conditions, the industry sees potential to scale. But more research is needed to improve yields, develop cultivars suited to New Zealand’s environment, and manage challenges like mites.

Rotorua-based academic and regenerative farming advocate Alison Bentley is exploring hazelnuts as a sustainable crop option. At her Tikitere Farm, she’s trialling 65 trees to evaluate low-nitrogen land use. “Hazelnuts are low-input, with minimal chemical use and environmental impact, and they sequester carbon,” she said. “But without more research, we can’t unlock the full potential.”

She believes New Zealand could not only replace imports but also supply hazelnuts counter-seasonally to the Northern Hemisphere. However, as a tier-three crop with low current volumes, hazelnuts struggle to attract research funding.

“It’s a catch-22,” Bentley said. “We need better yields to increase supply and viability, but we can’t reach that point without investment in research.”

According to Stats NZ, the export value of New Zealand nut products, including walnuts and chestnuts, has remained steady at around $21 million in recent years—half of which goes to Australia. Hazelnut growers believe targeted research could help lift the crop’s contribution significantly.

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