Sandwiches For Back To School May Cost More To Make

When I was a kid going to Miller School in Utica, I remember peanut butter & jelly sandwiches were the main lunch meal. And, if your kids tastes have branched out to "Nutella" and jelly sandwiches, that may cost you a bit more when they go back to school this fall.

According to this report from ctvnews.ca.com:

"Poor weather has ravaged the home of the majority of the world’s hazelnut crops, driving up prices and stoking fears of a shortage of the sugary sweet treat.

Turkey is home to about 70 per cent of the world’s hazelnut crops. A spring frost has damaged much of those crops, according to reports, threatening this year’s harvest.

As a result, Freeworld Trading, a commodity trading company in the United Kingdom, reports that hazelnut prices have been soaring since the March frost.

Reports of a hazelnut shortage have consumers worried about the supply of their favourite hazelnut products, the most popular being Nutella.

The chocolate hazelnut spread boasts “over 50 hazelnuts per 13 oz. jar,” according to company information.

The spread itself was born out of a cocoa shortage in Italy due to rationing during the Second World War. Italian pastry maker Pietro Ferrero, founder of the Ferrero chocolate company, used hazelnuts to extend his chocolate supply.

A recent move by the Ferrero Group suggests it may be able to weather a hazelnut shortage, however. Last month, the company purchased Turkey-based Oltan Group, the world’s top grower and processor of hazelnuts."