We are world leaders, but we cannot afford hazelnuts: Price hits 1,200 TL per kilo
While Turkey accounts for 70 percent of global hazelnut production, rising exports, input costs, and supply shortages have pushed the price of domestic hazelnuts to a level unreachable for the average consumer.
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Turkey accounts for approximately 70 percent of global hazelnut production. However, paradoxically, this strategic agricultural product has now turned into an unreachable luxury for the domestic consumer. The price of hazelnuts in markets and spice shops has risen to as much as 1,200 TL per kilogram.
Despite the leadership in production, the primary reasons cited for such a sharp increase in prices include high export rates, rising input costs, low producer income, and a supply contraction in the domestic market.
While producers are becoming unable to make a profit due to increasing expenses for diesel, fertilizer, and labor, consumers have reached a point where they cannot afford their own local product.
Economists describe this situation as a "structural contradiction of food inflation." Even though Turkey is the world leader in hazelnuts, the product can only reach the citizen's table in gram-sized portions.