Hazelnut production is developing in Creuse and the surrounding area. For the first time this year, the famous Creuse cake will be supplied with local hazelnuts. Until now, they come from a cooperative in Lot-et-Garonne which is supplied throughout France. But the Le Creusois pastry chefs association signed a contract with a farmer from the south of Indre, on the Creuse border.
This producer, Laurent Bretaud, cultivates 55 hectares of hazelnuts in Crevant, part organic and the other conventional. Breeder of Charolais and poultry, he launched into hazelnuts in 2018 to diversify : “One of my neighbors made hazelnut oil, he bought them elsewhere. I wondered why we didn’t produce it when we had plenty of it in our hedges, and the idea came about like that.” He has just harvested, and will sell seven to eight tonnes of almonds (shelled hazelnuts) to Creuse pastry chefs at the end of 2024. This represents 80% of the needs of the association, which continues to purchase the remaining 20% from the Lot-et-Garonne cooperative.
The hazelnut, from the producer to the cake
The first Creuse cakes made with Berry hazelnuts should out of the oven in early 2025rejoices Philippe Vacheyroux, president of the Le Creusois association: “It took a long time to get started, but our dream is coming true. We can't wait to work with this hazelnut, we have tasted it and it is a very good product.” He buys these slightly more expensive local hazelnuts, “but it’s for a good cause”. Pastry chef in Boussac, he does not intend to increase the price of his cakes.
Laurent Bretaud is also delighted to have signed this contract: “We have growing markets like the Creuse cake and the Jean Hervé company. For the moment it is not profitable, we have to wait seven or eight years, but I hope it will be a successful bet.” He invested in several machines : he now has all the equipment to crack the hazelnuts and must receive an optical sorter in December in order to finely sort the shelled fruits.
Creuse farmers are also encouraged to get started. Jean-Baptiste Giraud, for example, will plant 25 hectares in Trois-Fonds on the farm of his father who was a cereal grower: “This winter, I'm going to plant 10,000 trees, it's a lot but I believe in it a lot. There are several opportunities, other project leaders need to get involved to cover all the needs. On a national scale, we still import a lot of hazelnuts from Italy or Turkey so there is room.”
More and more hazelnut trees in Creuse
Currently, there are only around thirty hectares of hazelnut trees planted in Creuse in Sainte-Feyre, Saint-Fiel, Bonnat and Bourganeuf, explains Maud Briens, project manager at Syndicat Est Creuse. These orchards are not yet producing because you have to wait on average five years for the first harvest after planting. Jean-Baptiste Giraud's 25 ha project is the department's first major planting project. In 2025-2026, a second wave of planting of around thirty hectares (including 25 new hectares in Trois-Fonds) will increase the department's future production.
According to Maud Briens, the hazelnut market is doing well in France : “There is demand, because we consume four times more hazelnuts than we produce. Local hazelnuts are not necessarily more expensive because they are short circuit.” In Creuse, she estimates that around 200 hectares are needed to respond to requests. The Jean Hervé company, manufacturer of dried fruit purees and spreads in Boussac, needs 200 tonnes of organic hazelnuts per year, which it currently buys in Sicily. The Le Creuseois association is asking for 10 tonnes.
The hazel tree is “fairly easy to grow”she explains. Its only difficulty is its relationship to water : you need drained or sloping ground to prevent your feet from getting wet, and conversely in case of drought it needs irrigation. For Jean-Baptiste Giraud, it is a plant well adapted to the Creuse : “It is quite hardy and occurs naturally in hedgerows. To have stable production, it is better to invest in an irrigation system from a pond or a borehole, with authorization.”
Pour precisely test the varieties that best resist climate changethe Ahun agricultural high school will launch an experiment. The students will plant a hectare of hazelnut trees, some irrigated and others not to compare their growth and production.
