“We expect Georgia’s hazelnut harvest to decline by around 10% this year,” Baia Salukvadze, founder of Blue Bird Berries and GPR Nuts, said on BMGTV’s “Women’s Narrative.”
Georgia harvested around 45,000 tons of hazelnuts in 2025. Salukvadze said preliminary estimates suggest a roughly 10% decline this season, although the exact figure will become clear after the nuts are dried, shelled and prepared for export.
She said both weather conditions and pests have negatively affected hazelnut quality this season. The brown marmorated stink bug, in particular, remains a major concern, despite planned treatments throughout the year.
“Bad weather delayed treatments, giving the stink bug and other insects more opportunity to spread. This is affecting quality. We are already seeing a significant amount of insect-damaged hazelnuts, so quality indicators are currently unsatisfactory,” Salukvadze said.
