Over a century later, chocolate again became expensive and scarce due to rationing in Europe during World War II. An Italian pastry maker named Pietro Ferrero once again turned to the mighty hazelnut for salvation in 1946 and created Pasta Gianduja; three years later he altered the recipe to make the treat spreadable. In 1964, Pietro’s son Michele tweaked the recipe slightly and renamed it “ Nutella.” 2. ITS PREDECESSOR WAS NAMED AFTER A CHARACTER FROM ITALIAN COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE. Another new launch from the brand is a collectable ‘Say it with Nutella’ gift box that contains a 350g jar with an ‘I love you’ or ‘For you’ printed label.

In addition to chocolate brands Ferrero Rocher and Kinder, Ferrero also owns Tic Tac. The Italian company released the little orange and mint candies as “ Refreshing Mints” in 1969—only a few years after the 1964 debut of Nutella. 10. NUTELLA-RELATED CRIMES ARE ON THE RISE. Ferrero gifted members of the Italian national cycling team giant jars of Nutella personalized with their names just before the 2014 UCI Road World Championships. The company has also been a sponsor of its home country’s World Cup soccer team. 23. BUT THERE’S A NUTELLA CURSE. To commemorate Nutella’s 50th anniversary in 2014, the Italian Postal Service created a Nutella-themed stamp, emblazoned with the brand’s signature jar of hazelnut goodness. 21. IT ACTUALLY IS THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS. Heading the launches is the new Ferrero Golden Gallery range, which includes the popular Ferrero Rocher, a whole hazelnut surrounded by layers of crispy wafer, creamy filling, milk chocolate and finely chopped hazelnut pieces; and Ferrero Rondnoir, with fine wafer and rich creamy cocoa filling and a dark chocolate covered hazelnut. Two bloggers in Italy decided to take their love of Nutella to the next level in 2007, and created a worldwide day of celebration dedicated to the addictive substance. Thus, every year February 5 is a day for eating Nutella, sharing Nutella recipes and memories, and looking at photos of Nutella food-porn. In 2013, Nutella manufacturer Ferrero tried to shut down World Nutella Day before reconsidering. But as of 2015, at the request of Nutella Day founder Sara Rosso, Ferrero took over the holiday. 14. NUTELLA CAFES ARE A SORE SPOT FOR THE COMPANY.

Ferrero buys about a quarter of the world’s hazelnut supply every year. That’s more than 100,000 tons. Thanks to Nutella, hazelnuts have become trendy, driving up prices and encouraging farmers in regions that have never produced the nuts, like Chile and Australia, to give it a try. The company contends that two years’ worth of its hazelnut supply could fill the Roman Colosseum, and in 2014, Ferrero bought the world’s leading hazelnut supplier, the Otlan Group. 6. EACH JAR CONTAINS 52 HAZELNUTS. The assortment also features four new praline flavours: Cappuccino, combining the flavour of coffee and milk within a crunchy shell; Manderly, a crunchy specialty with a hazelnut cream filling and a taste of almond; Tenderly Nougat, with citrusy notes of a nougat filling and a whole hazelnut covered in milk chocolate; and Tenderly White, with white chocolate and a whole hazelnut. Frederic Thil, General Manager Ferrero Travel Market comments: “Ferrero is leading the travel retail confectionery category through its imaginative and innovative activations and its creative approach to product design.

Over the last 18 months this has included substantial development of the Kinder category around the highly successful Kinderino aviator platform. The new Nutella and Tic Tac travel exclusive collections have been very well-received and have added value to these brands in the global business. Confetteria Raffaello is also presenting exclusively in global travel retail a gift box of its coconut delights. The Raffaello 200g Coffret, decorated with a red ribbon, contains 20 coconut-flavoured pralines with a whole almond and a crunchy white coconut casing. It will be available in travel retail from January 2015. Ferrero originally made his chocolate-hazelnut paste into a loaf designed to be sliced and placed on bread, kind of like a chocolatey version of American cheese slices. 4. IT SPREADS FAR AND WIDE.With three flavours available, the Kinder Miniatures collection will have excellent visibility in stores and is sure to prove a hit with retailers and consumers alike,” Ferrero stated. The third new launch is the ‘Nutella Ultimate Kit’, a jar-shaped tin containing a 180g pot of Nutella spread, a spreader and a place-mat. In designing the ‘Hello World’ platform we set out to emphasise Nutella’s distinctive qualities – its ‘Nutellaness’. Based on the results of Ferrero’s first segmentation study, conducted last year with thousands of passengers in airports all over the world, the Ferrero team has crafted a stand-alone platform on the theme of ‘optimism’. Ferrero Travel Market General Manager Francois Godin said: “Ferrero has had another great year in travel retail with strong growth in all our markets worldwide. Contributing to this growth is our strategy of mixing a local focus with constant innovation in our product portfolio.

North America’s Nutella is made in Canada, but you can also find the imported version from Italy in specialty shops (you can tell it’s from Italy by the glass jar). Despite the same list of ingredients, many Nutella aficionados claim that the stuff made in Ontario tastes sweeter and less hazelnutty than the European version. In 2014, a Washington Post correspondent dove into the debate with the help of a pastry chef, and came to the conclusion that the difference in taste could be the result of trans fats in the European version. Yum yum. 20. ITALY’S SO PROUD OF NUTELLA, IT PUT IT ON A STAMP. The ‘Hello World’ platform extends to interactive point of sale materials, using the latest face recognition technology, which create a dynamic and enjoyable shopping experience,” insists Ferrero Travel Market. Ferrero described the Kinderino Sailor T7 as eye-catching on the shelf and believes it will attract sales in airports and on ferries and cruise-ships.Top: Kinder Surprise T8 Mascot shines the spotlight on eight different sports; Left: Kinder Bueno 200g adds to the Kinder Miniatures range; Right: Kinderino Sailor T7 There are 52 hazelnuts in every 14-ounce jar of Nutella, according to its advertisements. Hazelnuts make up about 13 percent of the product. 7. IT’S BIG BUSINESS. In 2004, Nutella began using up-and-coming young players for Germany’s national soccer team in its advertisements. The problem? Once becoming the face of sweet hazelnutty goodness, these players tended to not live up to their potential as future all-stars. Many of them got booted from the team in what began to be called Nutella fluch, or the Nutella curse. 24. YOU CAN’T NAME YOUR CHILD AFTER IT…