Hazelnuts Wholesale for Professionals

Wholesale hazelnuts: overview and sourcing for professionals

The hazelnut (Corylus avellana) is a high-fat tree nut valued in professional kitchens for its versatility: fine pastry, confectionery, aperitif snacking and bakery applications. On the global market, Turkey accounts for the bulk of production, followed by Italy, with more limited French output; this multi-origin sourcing helps secure volumes and smooth out price swings tied to harvests. Palimex lists France-origin lots for buyers seeking short traceability, alongside European and Turkish-origin lots for volume needs.

For a pastry workshop or a collective kitchen, buying hazelnuts wholesale is a matter of controlling ingredient cost: purchasing by the 5 or 10 kg bag rather than in retail packaging lowers the cost per kilo and secures supply across a full production season.

Uses by trade: pastry, confectionery, snacking and foodservice

Each professional profile uses a different hazelnut format depending on its production process. The pastry chef favours calibrated blanched shelled hazelnuts for dough inclusions, pralines and cake decoration, where size consistency drives the final visual result. The confectioner and snack bar manufacturer use more uniform sizes for industrial roasting and chocolate coating. The restaurateur and fine grocer look for in-shell or plain roasted hazelnuts for aperitif platters or bulk-bin retail displays.

• Fine pastry and viennoiserie: blanched shelled or powdered hazelnuts for ganaches and homemade spreads
• Confectionery and dragée coating: uniform 12/14 to 13/15 mm sizing
• Foodservice aperitif snacking: plain roasted or in-shell hazelnuts
• Bakery and collective breakfast: hazelnut granola blends for buffets

Comparing available formats and sizes at Palimex

The table below summarises the formats most commonly requested by our professional customers, for guidance only; full reference and packaging details are listed on each product sheet in the range.

Choosing criteria: shelled, blanched, in-shell or powdered

The choice of format depends above all on the downstream production process. Shelled hazelnuts suit uses where kitchen prep time must be minimised: direct inclusions, short roasting. Blanched hazelnuts, stripped of their brown skin, give a cleaner visual finish for pastry decoration and dragées. In-shell hazelnuts remain preferred for fine-grocery retail or home roasting, which better preserves aroma. Natural hazelnut powder, finally, suits workshops that fold hazelnuts into pastes, ganaches or creams without a grinding step.

We recommend that pastry workshops and collective kitchens place orders outside the harvest period (September-October), when hazelnut prices are most volatile, in order to stabilise ingredient cost across the season.

Storage, logistics and bulk ordering

Because of their fat content, hazelnuts are prone to rancidity if poorly stored: a dry, temperate place away from light extends shelf life, with in-shell nuts offering better protection than shelled ones. On the logistics side, Palimex arranges pallet delivery for volume orders, with free shipping above a set threshold, and best-before/batch traceability available on request for the HACCP processes of professional kitchens. Bulk ordering is reserved for professionals with a valid business registration (foodservice, delis, artisans, institutional kitchens): the site does not ship to individual consumers.

For tiered volume pricing or availability on a specific size, our sales team responds to enquiries via the professional contact form. We regularly update stock according to arrivals, particularly on limited-quantity France-origin lots.

Frequently sourced pack types in our range

Beyond the core shelled, blanched and in-shell references, our hazelnut range also covers ready-to-use blends for foodservice teams: chocolate-coated hazelnuts for buffet and dessert bars, and hazelnut granola mixes combined with cranberry or almond and pumpkin seed for breakfast service. These pre-mixed formats reduce prep time in busy kitchens while keeping a consistent, professional-grade product for repeat orders. As with our raw references, they are sold in bulk-friendly packaging — buckets and multi-pack cases — rather than retail-sized bags, in keeping with our B2B-only positioning.

Sources and regulation

Trade in tree nuts in France falls under the agricultural market monitoring carried out by FranceAgriMer, the French public body under the Ministry of Agriculture responsible for, among other things, monitoring fruit and vegetable sectors, including tree nuts.

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