What do the following have in common: Nutella, Ferrero Roche, poverty, Oregon, agronomy, Turkey, unreached people, and Business as Mission?
When I was a child growing up in northern Canada, each Christmas my dad would buy a gigantic bag of nuts still in the shell. Part of our Christmas tradition was cracking open the shells of Brazil nuts, Almonds, Pecans, Hazelnuts, and Walnuts. You guessed it – my favorite was hazelnuts (also called filberts).
99% of the hazelnuts grown in the USA are grown in Oregon, but 70% of the hazelnuts in world are grown in northeastern Turkey, where there are almost no believers and where the hazelnut farms are small family subsistence operations – 400,00 of them.
This is the kind of place where BAM entrepreneurs are called. They love the opportunities and flourish with the constant challenges. They work hard and pray a lot.
Now let’s connect the dots. Ron and Maria are native Oregonians where Ron received an agronomy degree from the state University with a specialty in hazelnuts. They love Jesus and desired to serve Him with their skills – where there were unreached people, and the population lives in subsistence poverty. They knew that they, by God’s grace and the help of a mission agency, could address both needs.
A focus region of Turkey has 10 million people and produces 50% of the world’s hazelnuts. Ten years ago, when the family arrived in Turkey there were no groups of Jesus followers in the region. The family knew they needed to move to the region, learn the language well, place their children in local schools and make friends in the neighborhood. They knew they wanted to find a way to make an economic impact in the Hazelnut industry.
- Interestingly factoid: Did you know that Priscilla and Aquila, mentioned several times in the New Testament originated in NE Turkey? The Bible says they used their leatherwork skill in the marketplace, studied the Bible, travelled with Apostle Paul, and started a church in their home. Sounds like the integration of faith and work to me. It also became a model for Ron and Maria.
It turns out that in Oregon where Ron was trained and worked, it was normal to reap 3.5 tons of hazelnuts per hectare (about 2.5 acres). However, in the target hazelnut growing region of Turkey, the yield was less than one ton (0.8) per hectare. Is that a challenge or what?
Modern hazelnut farming is a highly scientific and technological operation. It involves precise understanding of tree density, soil type, climate, precipitation, topography, pesticides, pruning, pollination, fertilizers and much more. Thankfully, the national and local authorities in the country were open to finding ways to help those 400,000 farmers become more productive and prosperous.
So, the family and others on their team moved to the NE region five years ago and started a business, managing farms in the region. They knew that Nutella (subsidiary of Ferrero Roche), purchased one-quarter of the world’s hazelnuts just for the Nutella product, and Nutella had been working to improve conditions on the farms – but their efforts largely failed.
But the team knew there had to be a better way to make a difference.
The plan was to lease land via a contract with an absentee owner, which allowed them to work toward significant application of modern technology and improved farming practices over a two-year period. By the third year, they had realized a profit of US $2,000 per hectare. In the second year, they had discovered early adopters (which they called clients), and they could see some real transformation.
It was not long before a tidal wave of clients wanted to learn and practice what they had learned – farming technology, worker management, efficiency, local culture value, and professionalism. These people now have respectable jobs, and they readily take an interest in spiritual conversations. This is discipleship of the whole person.
Ron reminded me that despite the creation of jobs and the significant interest in faith; this is really hard. Just living there is hard; raising a family there is hard; the work is hard; the isolation is hard. They pray a lot.
But the opportunities are numerous – to hire more people, to increase the hazelnut yield per hectare; manage more farms, establish Jesus followers. In Ron’s terms, “this has the potential to be enormous.”
IBEC Ventures is privileged to have a small part in it all. How?
To take things to the next level, the team has set out to raise $250,000, and they feel a business loan would suit them best for now. An IBEC consultant is coaching Ron in how to present the need (called a pitch), in preparation for several pitches this year. Their goal is an annual yield of 500 tons and scores of workers in five years (2030). This is transformation of individuals and communities at its best.
Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com