Nutella Maker Ferrero Buys Turkey's Biggest Hazelnut Company

Italian confectionary giant Ferrero has bought Turkey's largest hazelnut company, according to reports in the Turkish media.

The Nutella makers purchased Oltan Gida in a move that could shake up the global chocolate and hazelnut sectors, according to a report in Turkish daily Dunya.

As of Monday morning, the Turkish company had not commented on the reports of the sale and the local press did not report the price that Ferrero paid.

Oltan Gida accounts for around a third of Turkey's hazelnut production and exports its products to the European Union as well as the United States, China, Japan and Australia. Its annual turnover is more than $500m (£292m,€368m) according to the company's website.

Oltan Gida was named the 55<sup>th largest industrial institution in the Istanbul Chamber of Industry's top 500 list, according to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

It has a total of five nut-cracking plants in Turkey, a kernel selection plant and an integrated hazelnut processing plant.

The Italian confectionery group has already invested heavily in Turkey, opening its latest plant Manisa in 2013 with an investment of around $190m. Its brands include Nutella, Kinder and Ferrero Rocher and its products make use of Turkish hazelnuts.