There is a new trending ingredient in packaged goods.
According to a recent survey of 25 food industry decision-makers, a majority said they had a positive opinion of hazelnuts and overall, 40 percent said they are utilizing hazelnuts more often.
According to a release from Northwest Hazelnut Company, U.S. food makers are in a race to innovate in an underdeveloped U.S. market for hazelnut products. For inspiration, many look to hazelnut products in Europe, where generations of consumers have embraced the flavor, responding to food industry innovations, some becoming global sensations.
Consumers stated they would like to try hazelnuts in their mixed nut packages, baked goods, chocolate bars, salad dressings and candy.
Suppliers are gearing up to meet a projected boom in domestic production since acreage has doubled in the past five years. At the current pace of expansion, Oregon hazelnut orchards will nearly triple in size to 80,000 acres in mature production by 2024, according to the release.