Italian confectionery company Ferrero has purchased 700 hectares (7 square km) of land from Serbian agribusiness Aleksa Šantić for €7.95m.
Ferrero plans to reduce its dependence on third-party hazelnut suppliers and its Serbian subsidiary, Agriser, is to set up hazelnut production on Aleksa Šantić’s land.
The deal follows an announcement from Serbian government officials in 2014 that Aleksa Šantić and Ferrero would establish a hazelnut centre of up to 1,000 acres (40ha, 0.4 square km), with the potential to increase to 10,000 acres by 2020.
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