The history of nut production in Italy has not been a success story. Even though Italy is still today one of the major world producers, its role, both as a producer and a exporter, has radically diminished over the years. Hazelnuts, almonds and walnuts, in that order, are the three main nuts produced in Italy. The small size of the farms has caused most of the problems faced by the production: lack of new production and harvesting technologies; reluctance to replace trees which have been cut down; lack of product homogeneity; and the inadequate quality of a large share of the production in the face of increasingly sophisticated market demands. The decline of the nut sector in Italy stems from the incapacity of most farms to provide answers to the challenges as a result of the profound changes occurring in the world nut industry; this has eroded the competitive margins of most Italian nut growers. A considerable effort needs to be made to reduce production costs. Increasing the competitiveness of the Italian nut sector involves price and quality competitiveness both of the product and of the services sold with it.