Cutting food loss in a nutshell: How this Georgian hazelnut grower protects fruit and margins sustainably

This story was originally published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 

Shete Kemoklidze has been around hazelnuts for most of his 31 years.

"I grew up with hazelnuts," he says. "I was 13 when my father was planting this orchard. In winter, he would get me up at five in the morning, and we did all of it together."

Out of his 42 acres in the Kvareli municipality of Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region, 32 are in full production. He grows the local Anakliuri variety and harvests over one metric ton of dried nuts from every acre.

Four years ago, something unprecedented happened to him: a reseller sent his fruit back. "Aflatoxin turned up in my hazelnuts," he says.

©FAO / Guram Saqvarelidze

Aflatoxin is a type of poisonous chemical that develops from fungal infections when the nuts sit damp on the ground, in the husk, or in storage. 

"If aflatoxin is detected in a batch, the nuts are no longer fit for human consumption," Shete says. "The product has to be thrown away and destroyed. I lost around $20,000. It was directly caused by drying [hazelnuts] incorrectly.”

When a crop is grown, treated, harvested, paid for, and then thrown out before anyone eats it, the loss is painful. It is not only the economic loss and impact on the farmer’s livelihood but also the loss of all the natural and monetary resources that have gone into making the product.

Today, he is far better armed against the risk of food loss and aflatoxin that once cost him a harvest. Through the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD IV), funded by the European Union and the Government of Sweden and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Shete completed food safety training and received a matching grant for purchasing a fruit dryer. 

The knowledge and the machine he acquired now ensure that his crop won’t be wasted.

Gold does grow on trees

A lost harvest hurts even more when contrasted with what a good one is worth. And in Georgia, hazelnuts are worth a great deal.

"Hazelnuts are like oil, the way oil is like black gold," says Shete.  

According to Georgia’s National Statistics Office, hazelnuts and other nuts were the country’s seventh-largest export commodity in 2025. The country exported over 18,000 metric tons of hazelnuts in 2025, valued at over $165 million.

Aflatoxin is a recognized risk across hazelnut-producing countries. It is one of the reasons why orchard and post-harvest management are receiving so much attention in the sector.

©FAO / Guram Saqvarelidze

Unlike a visible defect, aflatoxin cannot be easily detected, which is why appropriate drying is critical.

A dryer fed on shells

Shete was already attending FAO's food safety trainings when he learned about the matching grant initiative for Georgian hazelnut producers. With a matching grant, Shete bought a state-of-the-art dryer and a vertical elevator to feed hazelnuts to it.

Better yet, the furnace runs on hazelnut shells, once just a waste product.

“The waste is now our main drying source,” he says. “We have the circle closed: harvesting, processing, cracking, and then the shell becomes the driving force.”

Similarly, broken kernels are pressed for oil, and the residue is milled into flour.

“Not one part of it is thrown away,” Shete says. Next on his list is a mulcher to put pruning residues back into the soil.

Helping hand for the neighbors

Shete and other grant recipients are drying hazelnuts for their neighbors too, hundreds of metric tons of nuts that would once have sat in a heap drying in accordance with the weather.

“Now even farmers with three or five tonnes are asking to dry their hazelnuts, so that they are not left exposed to aflatoxin.”

In Shete’s experience, Kakhetian hazelnuts command a premium. The quality comes down to consistently implementing food safety steps and having access to proper equipment, such as the dryer.

“There is a lot to it,” he says. “First, the treatments. Then getting the harvest as fast as you can. Then the drying and finally storing with the right conditions.”

©FAO / Guram Saqvarelidze

Without these steps, hazelnuts can become low-value, unmarketable, or lost completely. On the other hand, hazelnuts provide a huge opportunity for Georgian farmers.

“Few crops in agriculture hold steady,” he says. “Hazelnuts are the one that keep their price—if you look after them properly.”

Cutting food loss is not a single fix but a sequence of steps. The dryer is an important part of the process, but food safety practices are needed along the full value chain. With the right food safety training and equipment, food loss is avoidable.

As the country’s exports grow, so does the volume at risk. But as Georgian gold, hazelnuts’ rewards are worth the effort.  

*All images by Guram Saqvarelidze, courtesy of FAO. 

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