New hazelnut drying, storage plant opens in Georgia

Georgia’s role as a global hazelnut producer is strengthening with the opening of a new nut drying and storage facility.

The new plant in Darcherli village, in Zugdidi Municipality, has the capacity to dry more than 24 tonnes of hazelnuts in-shell and store more than 500 tonnes of hazelnuts.

Construction of the factory began in July and finished at the end of August; the plant officially opened on Saturday August 29.

Building the nut factory was part of the Government of Georgia’s plan to develop the country’s hazelnut sector. The Government-initiated development program specifically aimed to grow the production of hazelnuts in Georgia while simultaneously decreasing h he cost price of hazelnuts and increasing export possibilities.

The development program also aimed to improve the social-economic conditions for the people living in Georgia’s rural areas.

Once the Darcheli hazelnut plant started operating, the Government handed it over to a 500-member strong hazelnut cooperative called Darcheli Tkhili (Darcheli Hazelnut). The decision came after the Government decided to strengthen and support agricultural cooperatives in Georgia.

Georgia’s Ministry of Agriculture was responsible for ensuring international food security standards were implemented at the new factory. Looking ahead the Darcheli Tkhili cooperative is obligated to implement global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) by September 2018 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) by June 2019.

The hazelnut sector development program was initiated by the Georgian Government and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture through the Agriculture Cooperatives Development Agency, using European Union (EU) financial support.