HAZELNUT FARMING BUSINESS PLAN

I. Executive Summary

Company Description

The company is a premium hazelnut farming and processing operation based in the United States, launching in 2026. It operates a 50-hectare orchard using sustainable, traceable agricultural practices to cultivate high-quality hazelnuts for the gourmet food manufacturing and specialty culinary industries. The integrated model includes on-site drying, shelling, roasting, and milling to produce a range of value-added nut products that emphasize freshness, flavor, and domestic traceability.

The business controls the full supply chain to guarantee consistent quality and faster lead times than imported alternatives, targeting B2B buyers who require reliable, premium domestic nuts. Short-term goals are to complete planting and processing setup and begin commercial deliveries in 2026; long-term goals are to scale production capacity, expand value-added product lines, and become a leading domestic supplier for specialty food manufacturers and culinary professionals.

Problem

U.S. food manufacturers lack a stable, transparent domestic source of premium hazelnuts. The market depends heavily on inconsistent international imports, producing price swings, delivery uncertainty, and limited verification of origin and farming practices.

Downstream buyers—gourmet chocolatiers, high-end bakeries, and specialty food manufacturers—face documented shortages of premium-grade nuts that meet flavor, freshness, and food-safety standards. Current channels introduce multiple intermediaries that reduce quality, increase contamination and rancidity risk, and obscure chemical and farming-practice visibility.

As a result, manufacturers experience supply, quality, and compliance gaps that existing mass-market suppliers do not address; a domestically controlled, traceable source of premium hazelnuts is necessary to stabilize cost, ensure flavor consistency, and meet regulatory and consumer demands.

Solution

U.S. food manufacturers face supply instability from inconsistent, low-transparency hazelnut imports. We establish a commercial hazelnut orchard starting with 10 hectares in 2026 and scaling to 50 hectares by 2034, with on-site post-harvest cleaning, drying, and sorting to deliver a stable domestic supply of single-origin, traceable, high-grade hazelnuts in formats required by premium food manufacturers.

One sentence: Supply single-origin, sustainably grown, fully traceable hazelnuts (in-shell, shelled, roasted, diced, and fine flour) to reduce import reliance and meet industrial quality specs.

Mission Statement

We grow and supply single-origin, sustainably grown hazelnuts to U.S. food manufacturers, delivering the highest-quality ingredient with full traceability. We combine agricultural excellence, science-driven innovation, and transparent supply practices to raise product consistency and reduce environmental impact. We exist to empower manufacturers with reliable, premium raw material that drives better products and measurable sustainability gains.

Key Success Factors

These factors combine location, operations, processing, assets, and quality control to drive reliable yield, margin, and traceability.

• Prime location: optimal growing conditions delivering up to 3,000 kg per unit.
• Experienced management: dedicated Farm Manager and Processing Supervisor overseeing operations.
• Value-added processing: integrated processing to capture higher margins and meet diverse customer needs.
• Strategic asset build: phased land expansion and rising ownership share for long-term stability.
• 100% traceability: rigorous quality control guaranteeing traceability for every kilogram sold.

Financial Summary

Concise financial snapshot for the hazelnut orchard: scale from 10 ha in 2026 to 50 ha by 2034, breakeven in Oct‑2030.

Financial requirements: initial CAPEX and working capital totaling planned investments (see capex list). Key metrics: breakeven Oct‑2030 (58 months), payback 106 months, minimum cash -$2,046,000 (Sep‑2030), IRR 0.01% and 10‑year ROE 6.09%.

Overall outlook: losses early, positive EBITDA after 2021 (Year 6) and steady margin expansion to $2.73M EBITDA by Year 10.

Funding Requirements

The project requires a $2,046,000 funding commitment to build the orchard to 50 hectares by 2034 and fund operations to breakeven in October 2030.