In order to celebrate the upcoming World Nutella Day let’s make a tribute to this mind-blowing chocolate spread! Read here 30 things you didn’t know about Nutella!
1. Nutella is the brand name of an Italian sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread.
2. Manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, it was introduced to the market in 1964.
3. Pietro Ferrero, who owned a bakery in Alba, Piedmont, an area known for the production of hazelnuts, sold an first batch of 300 kilograms (660 lb) of “Pasta Gianduja” in 1946. This was originally a solid block, but Ferrero started to sell a creamy version in 1951 as “Supercrema”.
4. In 1963, Ferrero’s son Michele Ferrero revamped Supercrema with the intention of marketing it throughout Europe. Its composition was modified and it was renamed “Nutella”.
5. The first jar of Nutella left the Ferrero factory in Alba on 20 April 1964. The product was an instant success and remains widely popular.
6. In 2012, French senator Yves Daudigny proposed a tax increase on palm oil from €100 to €400 per metric tonne. At 20 percent, palm oil is one of Nutella’s main ingredients and the tax was dubbed “the Nutella tax” in the media.
7. World Nutella Day is February 5.
8. On 14 May 2014, Poste italiane issued a 50th anniversary Nutella commemorative stamp. The 70 Euro cent stamp was designed by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato and features a jar of Nutella on a golden background.
9. Ferrero held a Nutella Day on 17 and 18 May to celebrate the anniversary.
10. The main ingredients of Nutella are sugar and palm oil, followed by hazelnut, cocoa solids, and skimmed milk. In the United States, Nutella has soy products.
11. Nutella is marketed as “hazelnut cream” in many countries. Under Italian law, it cannot be labeled as a “chocolate cream”, as it does not meet minimum cocoa solids concentration criteria. Ferrero consumes 25 percent of the global supply of hazelnuts.
12. The traditional Piedmont recipe, Gianduja, was a mixture containing about 71.5% hazelnut paste and 19.5% chocolate. It was developed in Piedmont, Italy, after taxes on cocoa beans hindered the manufacture and distribution of conventional chocolate.
13. Nutella is produced in various facilities. In the North American market, it is produced at a plant in Brantford, Ontario in Canada and most recently in San José Iturbide, Guanajuato, Mexico. For Australia and New Zealand, Nutella has been manufactured in Lithgow, New South Wales since the late 1970s.
14. Two of the four Ferrero plants in Italy produce Nutella, in Alba, Piedmont, and in Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi in Campania. In France, a production facility is located in Villers-Écalles. For Eastern Europe (including Southeast Europe, Poland, Turkey, Czech Republic and Slovakia) and South Africa it is produced in Warsaw and Manisa. For Germany and northern Europe Nutella is produced at the Ferrero plant in Stadtallendorf, which has been in existence since 1956. Ferrero also has a plant in Brazil, which supplies the Brazilian market, with part of the production being exported overseas.
15. Nutella has 10.5 percent of saturated fat and 58% of processed sugar by weight. A two-tablespoon (37 gram) serving of Nutella has 200 calories including 99 calories from 11 grams of fat (3.5g of which are saturated) and 80 calories from 21 grams of sugar. The spread also contains 15 mg of sodium and 2g of protein per serving (for reference a Canadian serving size is 1 tablespoon, or 19 grams).
16. In the United States, Ferrero was sued in a class action for false advertising leading to consumer inferences that Nutella has nutritional and health benefits from advertising claims that Nutella is ‘part of a nutritious breakfast’. In April 2012, Ferrero agreed to pay a $3 million settlement (up to $4 per jar for up to five jars in returns by customers). The settlement also required Ferrero to make changes to Nutella’s labeling and marketing, including television commercials and their website.
17. Nutella is a form of a chocolate spread. Therefore, the production process for this food item is very similar to a generic production of chocolate spread. Nutella is made from sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skimmed milk powder, whey powder, lecithin, and vanillin. The process of making chocolate spread begins with the extraction of cocoa powder from the cocoa bean. These cocoa beans are harvested from cocoa trees and are left to dry for about ten days before being shipped for processing.
18. Die-hard Nutella fans decided to start the Nutella Day tradition back in 2007. This sweet celebration was launched through social networks by a blogger and Nutella fan, and soon tens of thousands of like-minded Nutella devotees showed their appreciation for the chocolatey delight online.
19. A jar of Nutella is sold every 2.5 seconds
20. Patriarch of the Ferrero family, Michele Ferrero, has an estimated net worth of $23.5 billion.
21. The Ferrero Group also makes Kinder, Ferrero Rocher Chocolates, and Tic Tacs.
22. Nutella is big on social. There are more than five million Instagram posts with a #Nutella hashtag. However, the split between photos of real Nutella-relevant content and boobs seems to be about 50/50. The brand’s own account @nutellausa is pretty on point, though.
23. Approximately 1.35 million pounds of Nutella are produced every day.
24. Nutella is not an acceptable baby name in France. In 2014, a French couple named their baby Nutella. The government deemed this an unacceptable name and legally renamed the child “Ella” when the family failed to show up to court.
25. The Ferrero Group uses nearly one quarter of the world’s hazelnuts.
26. Nutella holds the Guinness World Record for largest continental breakfast ever.
27. The definitively correct pronunciation is “new-tell-uh” not “nuh-tell-uh.”
28. For years, Nutella was free for Italian children. Shops all over Italy honored a BYOB (bring your own bread) policy where kids could bring in their own slice of bread and get a complimentary spread.
29. Nutella is totally gluten-free and Kosher.
30. It all started with a chocolate shortage during World War II. When chocolate became a rare, pricey commodity that was rationed during the war, founder Pietro Ferrero added hazelnuts to extend the cocoa supply. And so, in 1946, Pasta Gianduja was born!
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