Turkish Hazelnuts: Where They Grow and How to Buy
Which Black Sea provinces grow Türkiye’s hazelnuts, how the harvest is dried and stored, the registered varieties, and what to ask at a market.
Table of Contents
Türkiye’s hazelnuts grow on the Black Sea coast: eight Black Sea provinces among the ten largest grew 84 % of the 2024 crop, and Ordu came first with 202 thousand tonnes. Nuts are sold in the shell, as raw kernels or roasted; the card below writes the Turkish sentence to ask for them.
At a glance · checked 21.10.2026
Hazelnuts come from the Black Sea coast; ask for this year’s crop, and say whether you want them in the shell or as kernels.
- Where: Ordu grew 202 thousand tonnes in 2024, Samsun 114, Düzce 95 and Giresun 94. Eight Black Sea provinces among the ten largest grew 84 % of the crop.
- When: Picking starts in August, when at least two of six ripeness signs show. The nuts are then dried to 12 % moisture or less in the shell and stored in jute sacks.
- Buying: Ask for hazelnuts in the shell (kabuklu), raw kernels (çiğ iç) or roasted kernels (kavrulmuş iç). TMO, the state crop-buying office, prices in-shell nuts as if half the weight is sound kernel, and refuses lots under 40 %.
Husk, shell, kernel
Peel the nut, then say what you want
Tap the nut, or one of the four steps, to peel it. The card writes the Turkish sentence to say at the stall.
Tap the nut to peel it
- On the bush. The nut grows in a leafy husk (çotanak). The Hazelnut Research Institute says to pick when at least two of six signs show; one is that the husk starts to brown, another that the nut turns easily inside it.
- In the shell. Picked nuts are dried to 12 % moisture or less. In Turkish, nuts in the shell are kabuklu fındık.
- Raw kernel. The kernel inside the shell is çiğ iç fındık when raw. Kernels are dried to 6 % moisture or less.
- Roasted. Roasted kernels are kavrulmuş iç fındık. TMO’s sales points sell them vacuum-packed, and also hazelnut paste, creams and refined hazelnut oil.
At the stall
Merhaba, yarım kilo kabuklu fındık alabilir miyim? Bu yılın mahsulü mü? Birkaç tanesini kırıp bakabilir miyim?
What it says: Hello, could I have half a kilo of hazelnuts in the shell? Is it this year’s crop? May I crack a few and look?
- Bu yılın mahsulü mü? – Is it this year’s crop?
- Hangi ilin fındığı bu? – Which province are they from?
- Çeşidi ne? – What is the variety?
- Birkaç tanesini kırıp bakabilir miyim? – May I crack a few and look?
- Tadına bakabilir miyim? – May I taste one?
TMO prices in-shell nuts as if half the weight is sound kernel, and refuses lots under 40 %.
The drawing is schematic. Nothing you tap is saved; the card starts again when you reload the page.
Where they grow
Hazelnuts grow along the Black Sea. Türkiye’s agriculture ministry runs a Hazelnut Research Institute, founded in Giresun in 1936. It names two growing regions: an older one (Giresun, Ordu, Trabzon, Rize and Artvin) and a newer one (Samsun, Sinop, Kastamonu, Düzce, Zonguldak, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Bartın, Tokat, Gümüşhane and Bolu).
Of the ten largest hazelnut provinces, eight lie on the Black Sea: Ordu, Samsun, Düzce, Giresun, Trabzon, Zonguldak, Kastamonu and Bartın. Together they grew 84 % of the 2024 crop, says the ministry’s 2025 hazelnut report.
The national crop was 717 thousand tonnes in 2024 and 441 thousand tonnes in 2025, which is 38.5 % less, in the ministry’s crop statistics. The ministry’s 2025 hazelnut report puts Türkiye at 58 % of world production in 2023, a figure it takes from the FAO, the UN food agency.
The hazelnut year
The institute’s farming calendar describes the season month by month.
January
Flowers
The male catkins show clearly and the female flowers start to separate from the leaf buds. Depending on the weather, both can become active this month.
July
The kernel fills
The nut is nearly full size in its husk and the shell has hardened. The kernel starts to fill and oil builds up fast.
August
Ripe, picked, spread out
The institute says to wait until at least two of six signs show: the nut’s moisture is under 30 %, the husk starts to brown, the shell turns brown, the nut turns easily in the husk, it parts easily from the husk, and the husk comes away when pulled from the twig. Growers who pick up nuts from the ground should shake the bushes at least twice, because nuts left lying there can lose quality to mould. The nuts go to the drying yard the same day, spread 10–15 cm deep on concrete in the sun and raked from time to time.
September
Dried, sorted, stored
Husked nuts in the shell are dried as soon as possible, on concrete or by machine, to 12 % moisture or less (6 % or less for kernels). Cracked and rotten nuts are sorted out, then winnowing clears away dust, soil and empty nuts. The nuts go into jute sacks and into a well-ventilated, raised, pest-proof store.
October
Leaf fall
The leaves turn yellow to brown and start to fall, and the bushes go into their winter rest.
Registered hazelnut varieties
The institute lists 20 registered varieties. Fifteen were registered on 03.05.1990: Cavcava, Çakıldak, Foşa, İncekara, Kalınkara, Kan, Karafındık, Kargalak, Mincane, Palaz, Sivri, Tombul, Uzunmusa, Yassı Badem and Yuvarlak Badem. Some of the names are plain Turkish words: tombul means plump, sivri pointed, yassı flat, yuvarlak round, badem almond, kalın thick and ince thin.
Five more were registered later:
| Variety | Registered | Applicant |
|---|---|---|
| FAE-1 (Giresun Melezi) | 13.04.2012 | Hazelnut Research Institute |
| Okay 28 | 13.04.2012 | Hazelnut Research Institute |
| Allahverdi | 04.11.2015 | Hazelnut Research Institute |
| Çetiner | 25.03.2022 | Hazelnut Research Institute |
| Yomralı | 27.03.2023 | Ondokuz Mayıs University Faculty of Agriculture |
How to buy
Hazelnuts are sold in three forms. The Turkish names help at a market:
| Form | In Turkish | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| In the shell | kabuklu fındık | The whole nut in its shell. Nuts are dried to 12 % moisture or less before they are stored. |
| Raw kernel | çiğ iç fındık | The kernel taken out of the shell and not roasted. Kernels are dried to 6 % moisture or less. |
| Roasted kernel | kavrulmuş iç fındık | The roasted kernel. TMO’s sales points sell it vacuum-packed. |
At a stall, ask whether it is this year’s crop, which province the nuts come from and what the variety is. With nuts in the shell, ask to crack a few and look; with kernels, ask to taste one. The card at the top writes these questions in Turkish.
What TMO checks and pays
TMO, the state crop-buying office, buys hazelnuts in the shell from growers each season. It prices them as if half the weight is sound kernel, and sorts them into three price groups. TMO’s 2026/27 prices, in Turkish lira per kilo of nuts in the shell:
| Price group | TL per kg, at 50 % sound kernel |
|---|---|
| Giresun | 255 |
| Levant | 250 |
| Sivri | 245 |
Giresun, Levant and Sivri are TMO’s own names for its three price groups; its price list does not say which nuts fall into each.
A grower’s lot has to pass these checks before TMO buys it. They are TMO’s purchase rules for growers, not rules for shoppers:
| What TMO checks | Limit |
|---|---|
| Crop year | This season’s crop only. Old-crop nuts, and mixes of old and new, are not bought. |
| Look and smell | The nuts keep their natural colour and smell, and the outside is not wet. |
| Pests | No live pest, and pest damage of at most 3 % in a 1 kg sample. |
| Kernel moisture | At most 6.5 %. |
| Foreign matter | At most 0.5 %. |
| Sound kernel | At least 40 %. Lots below that are not bought. |
| Shrivelled kernel | At most 10 %. |
| Rotten or spoilt kernel | At most 7 %. |
| Nuts still in the husk | At most 3 %. |
| Cracked and broken nuts, and loose kernels | At most 10 % together. |
TMO also sells in its own sales points: vacuum-packed roasted kernels, hazelnut paste, creams and refined hazelnut oil.
Sources
- Sert Kabuklu Meyveler Ürün Raporu 2025 (TEPGE no. 420) (PDF; Table 17 (crop by province, 2024), the 84 % share and the world share) – Agricultural Economics and Policy Development Institute (TEPGE), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, checked 21.10.2026
- Bitkisel Üretim İstatistikleri 2025, Table-1 (page; national crop, 2024 and 2025) – Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, checked 21.10.2026
- Fındık Araştırma Enstitüsü: Tanıtım (page; growing regions, founded 1936) – Hazelnut Research Institute, checked 21.10.2026
- Fındık Tarım Takvimi (January, July, August, September, October; farming calendar, five months) – Hazelnut Research Institute, checked 21.10.2026
- Fındık Çeşitlerimiz (page; 20 registered varieties) – Hazelnut Research Institute, checked 21.10.2026
- 2026/27 Dönemi Kabuklu Fındık Satın Alma Şartları (PDF; purchase conditions) – TMO (Toprak Mahsulleri Ofisi), checked 21.10.2026
- 2026/2027 Kabuklu Fındık Alım Fiyatları (PDF; prices to growers) – TMO (Toprak Mahsulleri Ofisi), checked 21.10.2026
- Fındık ve Fındık Mamulleri Satış Fiyatları (PDF; what the sales points sell) – TMO (Toprak Mahsulleri Ofisi), checked 21.10.2026
All pictures on this page are drawn illustrations.
