Ferrero must fulfill obligations, says competition chief Küle
ISTANBUL
For Ferrero, fulfilling its commitments is an obligation in terms of both business ethics and for the Turkish public, Competition Authority Chairman Birol Küle has said, commenting on reports that the Italian confectionary group has halted its hazelnut purchases from Türkiye.
The Financial Times recently reported that Ferreto, maker of Nutella, has held off purchases, drawing on its own inventories and sourcing from Chile and the U.S. as Turkish hazelnut dealers are locked in a stand-off with the Italian company.
Hazelnut production in Türkiye has declined significantly this year due to agricultural frost and pests.
Prices have inflated further as Turkish intermediaries bought aggressively from farmers, betting that Ferrero, the world’s largest consumer of the nut, will soon be forced back into the market, traders told the Financial Times.
Marco Botta, general manager of Ferrero Hazelnut Company, told the newspaper that the Italian confectioner was “becoming the new Godot of Türkiye hazelnut kings.”
“Everybody plays games,” he told the Financial Times, referring to the dealers.
In a statement to state-run Anadolu Agency, an Küle said that Ferrero had unfairly blamed hazelnut producers and portrayed Türkiye as a market subject to speculation.
“In a season of reduced supply, nothing could be more natural than producers selling their products gradually. This is not a rule unique to Türkiye, but a universal market principle… There is no such ‘game’ as alleged,” he said.
Küle pointing out that the company’s delay in purchasing hazelnuts was its own choice, while competitors made early purchases and Ferrero chose to wait.
“If a global company makes planning mistakes, that is not Türkiye’s problem,” he said.
Küle said these initiatives amounted to an effort to push down hazelnut prices during a year of tight supply.
He stressed that Ferrero, a long-standing player in the Turkish market, is obliged to fulfill its commitments in line with business ethics and public expectations.
