The quality of the hazelnuts in the province of Cuneo, known also as
the Granda area, where the harvest is about to begin, is expected to be high. "The Piedmont Hazelnut PGI is excellent again this year and the quantities produced are slightly down from the last year," confirmed Roberto Moncalvo, confederal delegate of Coldiretti Cuneo.
"This crop is becoming highly specialized and preserves the biodiversity of our territories. However, there is still a strong competition from Turkey and, as it emerges from the first surveys of the commodity exchange in Turkey, the prices of Turkish hazelnuts are medium-high, so this parameter must be taken into account to define the right price of the Piedmontese ones with high organoleptic qualities. Moreover, as seen in the documentary 'Né Tonda né Gentile' by the Italian journalist Stefano Rogliatti, Turkish hazelnuts are the result of labor exploitation," continued Moncalvo.
"Hazelnut production in the Province of Cuneo is carried out according to the best standards and guarantees an important level of seasonal employment, in full respect of the rules and workers' rights, an important and clear difference from what happens in other non-European countries, such as Turkey. We are talking about a product, the Piedmont Hazelnut PGI, that the whole world identifies as an extraordinary product and that involves almost 1,300 companies in the province of Cuneo with 13,000 hectares, for a total average production of 140,000 quintals," said Fabiano Porcu, director of Coldiretti Cuneo.