U. receives grant from Ferrero to research hazelnut disease prevention

Rutgers has received a $160,000 research grant from the Ferrero Hazelnut Company to support efforts to expand hazelnut farming in the U.S., according to a press release. 

The grant will be used to study disease prevention in hazelnuts and create a type of hazelnut that is resistant to Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB). This research will ensure that hazelnuts will be available year-round to support Ferrero's rapid growth, especially for its main products, such as Ferrero Rocher and Nutella.

EFB is a fungal disease that restricts hazelnut production on the East Coast, according to Thomas Molnar, an associate professor in the Department of Plant Biology.

"With Ferrero's generous support, our program is helping to unlock hazelnut production in eastern North America while providing a means to combat this disease if it spreads to new regions of the world," said Molnar.

Research to prevent EFB was spearheaded by C. Reed Funk, an emeritus professor and former turfgrass breeder, in 1996 with help from Molnar, who was one of his undergraduate students in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at the time.

The first hazelnut varieties from this project were released to growers in 2020. The names of the strains are "Raritan," "Somerset," "Monmouth" and "Hunterdon" in honor of the Raritan River and the first counties the trees were grown in.

Ferrero also gave a grant to Oregon State University after the company doubled its hazelnut sourcing from the area.