Our philosophy
How we process hazelnuts
A healthy hazel produces about 10 kg (22 lbs) of nuts every year.
Each plant takes about eight years to have a stable production. Our hazels are pampered and controlled every season. Our guidelines for Cuor di Nocciola? Take care of each bush, refresh them by letting shoots grow in them, get rid of artificial products.
So how do we get to hazelnut spreads?
It all starts when the plant is old enough to give us a good quantity of hazelnuts. Every season is busy, there is always work to do according to the climates and the vegetation’s natural rhythms. In Spring we keep our groves in order and make sure the plants have enough nutrients to grow healthy and give us good fruits.
While wandering around the groves, the goats take care of the grass, limiting the growth of pests.
And when it’s time to harvest, in August, it’s best for the trails around the trees to be as clean and healthy as possible.
The harvest is a family business: we take care of everything!
The hazelnuts are blown towards the center of the rows with specific blowers, while the machines pick up the fruits from the ground. In particularly dry years, the columns of dust rising among the trees announce the harvest has begun. They remind of old locomotives’ chimneys puffs!
The hazelnuts are then taken to the Robaldo’s courtyard, where they rest for a couple days.
Why? To let them dry completely. When the sun is strong and the weather is not rainy, within two days at most the hazelnuts are perfectly dry. In case of cloudy and wet weather, it could take them a few more days.
So how do we know when the hazelnuts are perfectly dry? By their sound. That’s right! By sinking our hand through the various layers of hazelnuts and by hearing the sound they produce, that’s how we know what their perfect level of drying is. It’s about having a well-trained ear, as we do thanks to our many many years of experience and harvests.
However, when the hazelnuts start singing the right melody, it’s a wonderful symphony!
The processing
The ones that pass the first check are toasted, then go through a second screening.
If they have non leftover skin, part of them are packed for selling. The other part proceeds to the next step: the creation of the paste.
The defective hazelnuts are discarded.
The ones that pass the first check are toasted, then go through a second screening. If they have non leftover skin, part of them are packed for selling. The other part proceeds to the next step: the creation of the paste.
The hazelnuts are put inside a grinder and are reduced to paste, keeping their oily component. The paste itself is a semi-finished product and doesn’t need additional ingredients. This is a specific product that goes to pastry shops, ice cream shops and any other confectionery businesses looking for BIO ingredients to manufacture their specialties.
The last step consists in adding cocoa and brown sugar: that’s how we produce the spreads. According to the amount of cocoa added, we produce spreads with either a greater taste of chocolate or hazelnuts: there is something for every taste!
When the spread is ready, the refiner gives the final touch, giving the spread a soft and velvety texture. Our products are packed in jars of various formats, on which we proudly apply our Cuor di Nocciola label.
Our flagship is the spread made of hazelnuts only. It is made with just two ingredients: hazelnuts and brown sugar, organic. Delicate, very fragrant and sweet to the right point: we welcome you to taste it here in Cravanzana!
