Hazelnuts from Georgia
Hazel shrubs (Corylus avellana) can be found across Europe and Western Asia. It is especially abundant in humid and warm regions such as the Mediterranean and along the Black Sea [1]. In such areas, such as the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region in western Georgia, the cultivation of hazels is of big economic importance. The demand of its fruit, the hazelnut, is rising since it is widely used in the snack, confectionary and chocolate industry [2].
Agriculture represents for many Georgians a crucial mean to ensure or support their income. The multitude of offered products on the local market is remarkable. However, hazelnuts are not only important for domestic markets since Georgia is among the three most important exporters of shelled hazelnuts.
ANKA Fair Trade Ltd. is a Georgian hazelnut trading and processing company located in the town of Zugdidi. Sustainablity throughout the entire hazelnut value chain guide the company‘s activity. Smallholder farmers attend trainings to improve organic agricultural practices as well as post-harvest practices. Furthermore, ANKA introduces measures to reach impeccable product quality. Continous development and improvement of their projects is possible thanks to the collaboration with local NGOs and foreign partners in the nut value chain such as diract sourcing GmbH/Pakka AG.
These are examples how Anka Fairt Trade introduces and offers different methods to improve the quality and efficiency of post-harvest handling of hazelnuts. Husking machines remove the husk which embraces the Georgian hazelnuts when falling off the shrubs. This step is traditionally done manually. Sufficient drying is very important to avoid quality loss during storage. As a first step, the in-shell nuts are sundried before entering the dryers in of the factory.
If a farmer decides to sell his nuts, the purchase price is calculated according to their quality. A representative sample of each delivery is drawn and analyzed in terms of moisture content, yield (inshell-kernel ratio) as well as mould incident. This quality check is done even if a farmer decides to sell later and will meanwhile leave his nuts in the Anka-warehouse.
The new factory of Anka Fair Trade was built in 2014 according to Turkish quality and processing standards. Starting with selecting, cracking and grading the nuts by machines and detectors, the final selection of the different kerenl sizes is done manually.
High quality hazelnuts, in-shell or kernels, are packed and loaded to leave the factory and find their way into chocolates or other hazelnut creations. After a truck drive to the port at Poti, they leave on vessels to customers in Europe.
August 2015 Pictures: André Urech Karte: www.Nationsonline.org [1] Mirotadze, N. (2005). Hazelnut in Georgia. Proc. Vith Intern. Congress on Hazelnut. Editors: Tous, J., Rovira, M. And Romero, A. Actao Hort. 686: 29-35. [2] Sorg, L. (2012). Value Chain Analysis of Georgian Hazelnuts. - Competitiveness and Upgrading Potential. Master Thesis. [3] Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) (2014). Ein nahrhaftes Geschäft. Proteinreiche Nüsse sind im Trend - die Nachfrage nach Mandeln steigt ungebremst an. Nr. 230.