Nutella and Ferrero Rocher could soon be taken off supermarket shelves over child labour claims 

Why you need to stock up on Nutella now: Australia’s favourite chocolate spread could soon be taken off supermarket shelves over child labour claims

  • Hazelnuts used are produced in Turkey and picked by immigrants and children 
  • Children as young as 10 work for 10 hours a day for 95 lira a day, report says
  • Ferrero Rocher uses hazelnuts from Turkey and are combating child labour

Australia’s favourite chocolate spread Nutella could soon be taken off the shelves amid allegations the product relies on child labour. 

The hazelnuts which make Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder Surprise and Bueno chocolate are picked by immigrants and children in Turkey. 

The European country is home to more than 400,000 family-owned hazelnut orchards where children as young as 10 work up to 10 hours a day for 95 lira (AUD$25) a day, according to a BBC report.  

The delicious hazelnuts which make our decadent Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder Surprise and Bueno chocolate are picked by immigrants and children in Turkey (stock)

Italian chocolatier Ferrero buys a third of all hazelnut crops from Turkey for their chocolates

Italian chocolatier Ferrero buys a third of all hazelnut crops from Turkey for their chocolates

Ferroro also makes Nutella and Kinder Surprise and Bueno chocolate from the hazelnuts

Ferroro also makes Nutella and Kinder Surprise and Bueno chocolate from the hazelnuts

Woolworths confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the supermarket is looking into the claims. 

‘We are aware of these reports and have contacted the supplier for further information on its response to the matter,’ the spokesperson said. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Coles for comment.  

Kazim Yaman co-owns an orchard in Turkey and says he is against child labour, but there’s not much he can do when the parents are forcing their kids to work. 

‘I am trying not to make them work… The mother and father want them to work – and to be paid,’ he told the BBC.

Italian chocolatier Ferrero buys a third of all hazelnut crops from Turkey. 

The company has a traceability plan for 100 per cent of hazelnuts by 2020. They have so far achieved 39 per cent of traceability. 

‘Traceability is essential to ensure the quality standards of production and products,’ their website reads. 

Ferrero has in place an implementation of the traceability plan for 100 per cent % of hazelnuts by 2020. They have only achieved 39 per cent of traceability (stock)

Ferrero has in place an implementation of the traceability plan for 100 per cent % of hazelnuts by 2020. They have only achieved 39 per cent of traceability (stock)

'Being a larger hazelnut user, Ferrero is committed to contributing to influencing and driving sustainable changes in the hazelnut production sector,' Ferrero said in a statement

‘Being a larger hazelnut user, Ferrero is committed to contributing to influencing and driving sustainable changes in the hazelnut production sector,’ Ferrero said in a statement

In a statement obtained by 10Daily, the popular chocolate company said it is against child labour.

‘Being a larger hazelnut user, Ferrero is committed to contributing to influencing and driving sustainable changes in the hazelnut production sector,’ the statement read.   

‘This includes combating child labour with a multi-stakeholder approach that involves a combination of different measures, as in our Ferrero Farming Values Program (FFV).

‘In fact, the complexity of the hazelnut supply chain means it cannot be transformed by one single actor, and cooperation is absolutely essential to tackling the issue of child labour.’ 

Hazelnut traders Enginay Akcay and Osman Cakmak sell directly to Ferrero but said the company does not ask about the working conditions the nuts came from (stock)

Hazelnut traders Enginay Akcay and Osman Cakmak sell directly to Ferrero but said the company does not ask about the working conditions the nuts came from (stock)

Hazelnut traders Enginay Akcay and Osman Cakmak sell directly to Ferrero, but said  the company does not ask about the working conditions the nuts came from. 

‘It has nothing to do with us, child labour. The control and the monitoring belongs to the state and the security forces,’ Mr Akcay told BBC. 

‘I buy, I sell. At that moment, it’s impossible for the tons of hazelnuts to be monitored,’ Mr Cakmak said.

Bamsi Akin, general manager of Ferrero Hazelnut Company in Turkey, said if they are ware of unethical practices to produce hazelnuts then they would not be used. 

‘If we determine a product which is produced with unethical practices, we would not touch it,’he said in an interview. 

‘We are doing our role to improve social practices with trainings…But is the system completely clean? I think no-one can say that at this moment.’

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ferrero Rocher for comment.  

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk