Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Ferrero stands as the third largest confectionery group worldwide, utilizing approximately 40% of all hazelnuts produced globally. Canada is the fourth largest importer of hazelnuts worldwide with the opening of a Ferrero manufacturing plant in 2006 which has become the leading hazelnut processor in the country. To date, Ferrero has been importing the majority of its hazelnuts from Turkey, which due to political and environmental factors, is no longer able to satisfy Ferrero's current and future needs as they expand the production of their confectionery products. Recently, Ferrero has focused on research and development activities in order to increase cultivation and conservation of high-quality cultivars for hazelnut production in Ontario. For such activities, all propagative materials must be: traceable through genetic fingerprinting, clonally mass propagated, and capable of survival in the field with high vigor. This project aims at creating a Hazelnut Cryobank (HCB) at the Gosling Research Institute for Plant Preservation (GRIPP) for advancing hazelnut agriculture in collaboration with Ferrero Canada. Development of the HCB requires a multi-component research platform consisting of three major technologies: (1) Molecular authentication; (2) cryopreservation; and (3) greenhouse acclimatization. This technology pipeline will allow for cultivars provisionally selected for plantation in Ontario, to be fingerprinted (Objective 1), cryopreserved (Objective 2), and mass produced via micropropagation and assessed for survival in the greenhouse (Objective 3). The proposal builds on GRIPP's research expertise in plant morphogenesis and infrastructure for in vitro plant conservation. Establishment of HCB will bring Ferrero one step closer to reaching their 2027 target of planting 25,000 acres of hazelnut trees in Ontario yielding high-quality hazelnuts for use in Ferrero products. The HCB is the first international hazelnut germplasm conservation project, which will form technological basis for Ferrero's expansion in North America with significant contributions to Canadian Agri-food sector and HQP training.