SALEM — As the number of mature hazelnut trees is expected to double in Oregon over the next three to four years, industry leaders are focused on building domestic markets for the crop beyond Nutella.

Patrick Gabrish, vice president of sales and marketing for Hazelnut Growers of Oregon, said there is reason for growers to be confident about sales. He pointed to several statistics during a presentation Jan. 16 at the Northwest Ag Show in Salem, Ore., indicating that Oregon hazelnuts can thrive in U.S. restaurants and supermarkets.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to build on this over the coming years as the crop continues to grow,” Gabrish said, noting that the increase in supply will help to stabilize price and demand.

Oregon grows 99 percent of all U.S. hazelnuts, with farmers harvesting 37,000 acres in 2017, according to the USDA. Hazelnut Growers of Oregon, a member-owned co-op representing 150 hazelnut growers, is bracing for another 38,000 acres of orchards to reach maturity within the next few years.

The challenge, Gabrish said, is getting hazelnuts on par with almonds, cashews and pistachios in the minds of American consumers.

“We have to do a better job as an industry of having Americans understand the health benefits,” he said. “Taste is not a significant barrier to increasing consumption. … I firmly believe that if people in Europe enjoy hazelnuts, then people in the U.S. will enjoy them just as much.”

Backing up his optimism, Gabrish cited a recent study of consumer trends and usage prepared for the Hazelnut Marketing Board, which revealed that while hazelnuts have the lowest trial rate among U.S. consumers at 66 percent, 72 percent of consumers said they are interested in giving hazelnuts a try.

“We have to find ways to get them into people’s hands and try them,” Gabrish said.

That is where Amy Wood, senior vice president with FLM Harvest, comes in. Her marketing agency is now in the early stages of a multi-year campaign meant to take Oregon hazelnuts from a small, niche brand to ubiquity in the American food sector.

Speaking to a crowd at the Nut Growers Society 2019 Winter Meeting on Jan. 17 at Oregon State University, Wood said they are already making connections with high-profile national brands such as Kellogg’s, along with local favorites like Tillamook and Bob’s Red Mill.

Wood said Oregon hazelnuts can take a page from marketing campaigns for veggies like kale and cauliflower, which managed to change old perceptions and are now a popular and trendy ingredient. The first step to getting to that point, she said, is getting Oregon hazelnuts in the hands of top chefs and specialty food producers — what she described as “influencing the influencers.”

“All we need to do is meet with these influencers at the right time, at the right place,” Wood said.

Over the last six months, FLM Harvest has brought Oregon hazelnuts to the Feast Portland food and drink festival, as well as the Retail Confectioners International fall conference in Portland. Eliot’s Adult Nut Butters, a Portland-based producer, has already started making a hazelnut spread that has started popping up on store shelves, including Safeway.

That was a remarkably quick turnaround, Wood said. Most larger companies typically require two to three years of research and development before they launch a new product. By 2022, she believes they can elevate the profile of Oregon hazelnuts on a national scale.

“This pattern is one that is not an overnight process,” she said. “More than anything, we want to distinguish Oregon as home to the world’s best hazelnuts.”