University researchers are closer to helping New Jersey become a cornerstone of East Coast production
Ferrero Group, the Italian company behind Nutella and the iconic holiday treat Ferrero Rocher, is helping researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick build on years of pioneering work aimed at transforming the region into a hub for hazelnut cultivation.
A $170,00 research grant from the company will bolster ongoing research to develop hazelnut cultivars resistant to eastern filbert blight, a fungal disease that has hindered U.S. hazelnut production. The funding also supports educational efforts to teach local farmers how to grow hazelnuts and to develop new cultivars that can thrive in colder climates.
Thomas Molnar, an associate professor in the Plant Biology Department of the Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, is leading the effort at Rutgers. With nearly 30 years of experience studying hazelnuts, the Rutgers researcher has dedicated his career to tackling the fungal disease native to North America that infects the stems of hazelnut trees.
The U.S. hazelnut industry is nearly entirely concentrated in Oregon, which produces 99% of the nation's crop, yet much of what we consume in the U.S. is from imported nuts and demand continues to increase each year, Molnar said.
This shortfall is especially concerning as a new strain of eastern filbert blight emerged in Oregon which has the potential to seriously impact their production. To offset imports and meet rising demand, the East Coast can play a key role in expanding production, said Molnar.
In recent years, the Rutgers hazelnut breeding program has made significant strides in addressing the challenges posed by eastern filbert blight. After planting tens of thousands of trees over nearly two decades to identify resistant strains, Molnar and his team, in collaboration with researchers at Oregon State University, developed highly productive hazelnut cultivars adapted to New Jersey that combine disease resistance with excellent nut size and flavor.
In 2020, Rutgers released four robust cultivars - Raritan, Somerset, Monmouth and Hunterdon - named after the iconic river on which the University sits as well as New Jersey counties.
These cultivars, along with others in development, are expected to form the foundation of an expanding hazelnut industry in the mid-Atlantic.
Molnar said more than 30 growers are already cultivating these trees in New Jersey - and the investment is starting to bear fruit. When including parts of Pennsylvania and New York, more than 150 acres of Eastern filbert blight-resistant hazelnuts are now growing across the mid-Atlantic.
A new focus for Molnar and his team is educating farmers on how to grow and harvest the new crop.
"There's a steep learning curve because, for the first time, farmers in the eastern United States can buy and plant these trees - but very few have ever grown hazelnuts before," Molnar said. "We're ramping up outreach to teach growers everything from planting and harvesting to processing."
The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station along with a grant from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture have supported the purchase of commercial-scale harvesting and processing equipment to demonstrate these techniques and help growers understand the full production process.
At the same time, the researchers are refining efforts to breed better trees and developing new, improved cultivars, including ones that can thrive in colder climates, with plans to release some of them next year.
"Our plants are best suited to the moderated climate of mid-Atlantic region but won't grow well in colder places like upstate New York, northern Pennsylvania or the upper Midwest," said Molnar. "We're collaborating with partners nationwide to create new cultivars that combine the nut quality of our current plants with even greater cold tolerance."
Molnar said this would enable hazelnuts to be grown throughout a much broader area of the U.S., with an expanded potential for improving food supply and advancing sustainable agriculture.
The roots of the program's success date back to the 1990s when Rutgers professor C. Reed Funk, along with Molnar, who was a student at the time, began breeding hazelnuts to withstand Eastern filbert blight. Today, Rutgers' hazelnut breeding program is one of two major programs in the U.S.
Chocolate and confectionary maker Ferrero has been a crucial supporter of Molnar's efforts for more than 15 years. Company representatives visit Rutgers often to monitor progress and assess opportunities for expanding hazelnut planting globally.
"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," Molnar said.
The program is also supported through longstanding partnerships with chefs from prominent restaurants including Razza in Jersey City and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, N.Y. - along with chocolatiers such as Thomas Sweets in New Brunswick and Shane Confectionery in Philadelphia - who regularly source Rutgers-grown hazelnuts.
Hazelnuts are well-positioned to thrive in New Jersey's changing climate, making them a promising crop, said Molnar.
"New Jersey's farms are diverse in terms of the crops they grow and hazelnuts can add another option," he said. "They're resilient and adaptable. These hardy trees thrive even through short droughts or temperature swings, offering stability in unpredictable weather. And the nuts are non-perishable, storing for over a year when in the shell and retaining their high quality, providing a long window for sale."
The versatility of hazelnuts is undeniable, Molnar said. In addition to being used as raw and dry-roasted nuts, they are featured in nut butters, chocolate-hazelnut spreads, ice cream, gelato and nut milks.
When asked how soon New Jersey might become a cornerstone of East Coast hazelnut farming, Molnar said, "New Jersey growers have now planted nearly 100 acres of our resistant cultivars with plans for expansion, but it will still take four to five years for them to reach production age."
"Growers are just beginning to see nuts on their trees, but the yields are still small - only a few thousand pounds statewide," he added. "In the next few years, we'll need to scale up harvesting and processing efforts significantly. To manage this growth, growers will also need to figure out how to market and sell their crop, either independently or by collaborating. Growers are meeting, discussing these challenges and planning for the future, though there is some time to determine the best approach."
"We're getting there," Molnar said. "Hopefully in the near future, Nutella enthusiasts in the area may find that their spread contains hazelnuts grown in their home state.
