Facility aims to transform region into a strategic hub for the processing and export of hazelnuts
Chilean hazelnut giant Nefuen Trading and Grupo Hijuelas have opened a state-of-the-art hazelnut processing plant in Osorno.
With cutting-edge technology for drying, grading, and shelling, the new facility will process hazelnuts from the Los Lagos and Los Ríos regions, consolidating Chile’s global leadership in this sector.
Gaspar Goycoolea, president of Grupo Hijuelas, said the processing plant is not only the southernmost such facility on the planet but also one of the most technologically advanced in the world right now, president of Grupo Hijuelas.
Jorge Mohr, director of Nefuen, added: “Eight years ago it took us several months to process what we can now accomplish in a single morning, in one work shift, with all this new infrastructure”.
Chile is already the leading producer of hazelnuts in the Southern Hemisphere and, at the current rate of growth, could become the world’s largest producer of this species by 2035.
For agricultural biotech company and plant nursery Grupo Hijuelas, the move marks its first foray into processing and marketing. “This particular project has a special significance because it is the first for the group and for Nefuen in a stage of the supply chain in which we had never participated before,” said Goycoolea.
With this facility, Grupo Hijuelas and Nefuen said they are taking a decisive step toward accelerating Chile’s path to global leadership in hazelnuts, connecting genetics, production, processing, value-added processing, and international marketing from the south of the country.
Goycoolea commented: “Today, European hazelnut production in Chile is experiencing a very positive moment for the country’s agriculture. These are the moments when we must be very humble and unite – nursery owners, producers, processors, and exporters – to work together.
“We must learn from our mistakes and not repeat what happened with cherries, where we ultimately ended up destroying a species due to individualism and bad practices. The time has come to make the European hazelnut the species that allows for the development of all stakeholders, and that is a responsibility we all share.”
From a regional perspective, the plant aims to transform Osorno and the surrounding area into a strategic hub for the processing and export of hazelnuts.
