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Ferrero North America is boosting its investment in U.S.-grown hazelnuts with a $170,000 research grant to Rutgers University.

In a Nov. 14 press release, the Parsippany-based confectionary giant said the award will support the university’s ongoing efforts to bring commercialized hazelnut farming to the Northeast.

For Ferrero, hazelnuts are an essential ingredient for some of its most well-loved brands, like Ferrero Rocher premium chocolate and Nutella spread.

To ensure year-round availability, the company said it has diversified its hazelnut sourcing globally to support brand growth. Currently, Turkey grows roughly 70% of the world’s hazelnuts, while the U.S. produces about 6%. Of the domestically grown nuts, 99% come from the Willamette Valley region of Oregon.

New Jersey has emerged as a leader in introducing hazelnut growing to the East Coast. And research and breeding programs at Rutgers support those efforts. Since 1996, the university has led projects to develop hazelnut varieties that can survive the Northeast’s climate and resist the Eastern Filbert Blight fungus.

Over the next four years, Ferrero will give Rutgers $170,000 to fund a study looking at the development of hazelnut varieties that can resist EFB through genetic development. Ferrero previously gave $60,000 to the university as part of a partnership that began in 2020.

Thomas Molnar, associate professor in the Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, shared, “With Ferrero’s generous support, our program is helping to unlock hazelnut production in eastern North America while providing a means to combat this disease if it spreads to new regions of the world.”

Mastering ‘the hazelnut value chain’

The company is also giving a $180,000 research grant to Oregon State University. For years, the two have partnered with the state’s growers to foster and strengthen hazelnut cultivation in the Willamette Valley.

Ferrero – which recently doubled its hazelnut sourcing from the area – has donated over $760,000 to OSU agriculture programs to date.

The latest grant will support multiple ongoing projects including biological control of invasive species, diseases and fungi, as well as integrated weed management within orchards — all with the goal of reducing herbicide, according to Ferrero.

After starting as a small pastry shop in Italy nearly 80 years ago, Ferrero has grown to become a global leader in sweet-packaged foods, such as confectionery, biscuits, ice cream and better-for-you-snacking, with over 35 brands sold in more than 170 countries.

Since entering the North American market in 1969, Ferrero now has more than 5,400 employees in eight offices and 15 plants and warehouses in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. Its lineup includes Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, Kinder, Crunch, Keebler and Famous Amos.

Tommaso de Gregorio, head of Ferrero’s Agri Competence Center, said the company’s goal “is to master the hazelnut value chain from end-to-end to create and deliver value in service of customers, brands, and products.”

He added, “This is particularly important in North America where we have invested billions of dollars in growth and innovation over the past decade.”

Within the past two years, Ferrero has unwrapped several state-of-the-art sites in Illinois, including a $214 million production facility for Kinder Bueno brand chocolate bars and a $75 million chocolate factory for Butterfinger and Ferrero Rocher candies.

It also unveiled a new research & development laboratory and innovation center in Chicago as a location to develop new confections, cookies and other treats.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1:09 p.m. EST Nov. 27, 2024, to correct the amounts Ferrero has granted to Rutgers University since 2020 as well as the most recent funding.

Continued research:

Rutgers Health also received a $607,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to spearhead the development of “electroponics” – a new farming method designed to operate in water-scarce or zero-gravity environments, including space stations. Find out more here >>