Ordu's digital trade potential
Ordu is one of Türkiye's leading hazelnut provinces, and the backbone of the provincial economy rests largely on hazelnuts. The great majority of the city's exports come from hazelnuts and hazelnut products.
The real buyer of the hazelnut is the global chocolate and cocoa industry: Ordu hazelnuts go as raw material to many countries, Germany and Italy above all. That strong demand makes the city an exporter tied to a single product yet operating on a world scale.
Production is integrated into organised industry: hazelnut cracking, roasting and processing plants are concentrated in the organised industrial zones (OSB) of Ordu, Fatsa and Ünye. With hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of jobs, hazelnuts also define the city's industrial identity.
Beyond hazelnuts the economy is diversifying: furniture and forest products, bentonite mining, fisheries and food processing are the city's other arms. The Black Sea coast and the highlands, Boztepe first among them, hold a growing potential for nature and highland tourism.
Dependence on a single product is both a strength and a risk: when the hazelnut price and the crop swing, the whole economy feels it. That is why moving to higher-value processed products (hazelnut butter, chocolate, roasted products) and diversifying the product line is a strategic priority for the city.
Most companies still export hazelnuts as raw kernels, without a brand; the added value and the brand stay with the chocolate producer. The right B2B digital showcase and processed-product branding can keep a larger share of that value in Ordu, and tourism can open an entirely new line of revenue.