The "Nutella" Story: How the product became an obsession & Is "Nutella" healthy?

Every 2.5 seconds, one jar of Nutella is sold throughout the world. Nutella is basically a cocoa- hazelnut spread, which has started to replace desserts and is becoming a part of breakfast routines. A lot of people tend to believe it is healthy since it contains hazelnut , the others find it addictive and the rest try it out of curiosity. Due to the increased popularity of the product, cafe's have started offering a "Nutella" dedicated dessert/shake/ dish. You can cover the Great Wall of China 8 times with the number of jars Nutella sold in a year, their official website claims.

How did this Nutella obsession begin?

Nutella is a product of the Ferrero group , the same group that sells Ferrero Rocher chocolates and kinder joy. Nutella was founded during the World War 2 period when cocoa had become a rare and an expensive commodity. An Italian baker Pietro Ferrero , made a hazelnut paste , added a little cocoa and prepared a "chocolaty" spread with less cocoa and more hazelnuts , an alternate to chocolate spreads, and this resulted in the formation of the Ferrero company in 1946.

The product started to gain popularity, was named "Nutella" and the glass jar packaging became the signature style of the product by 1965, the product was advertised as a quick and healthy breakfast and the product picked up quick in the European markets. No doubt, Nutella is a "quick" breakfast, but is it healthy? The product , though contains hazelnut , also contains refined sugars which forms a major part of it and is definitely NOT the "ideal" breakfast or even close. However, the advertisements may make us believe that Nutella is not an unhealthy breakfast since it is a hazel"nut" spread. Watch this 30 second Nutella ad and be the judge.

This is actually how bacon and eggs were advertised in the United States calling them an "ideal" and "healthy" breakfast , even though it posed an increased risk of heart attack in regular consumers. Bacon and eggs were advertised as the "American breakfast" , the concept soon picked up and now the market for Bacon is about $16 billion in the U.S. (2020).

The impact of advertisements can be tremendous!

Fun Fact: World Nutella Day is celebrated every year on 5 February!

The concept of "World Nutella Day" was given by American blogger Sara Rosso on 5th February 2007, every year thousands of Nutella lovers share their recipes , their "Nutella" stories and their love for the product and some of this content is published on the "nutelladay" website, Yes, they have a website specially dedicated to the day. Marketing 101.

Nutella is sold in about 75 countries and is not restricted to the "bread and nutella" recipe ; nutella is used as a key ingredient in shakes, cakes, cookies , hot chocolates and what not. While studying the Google search trends for Nutella , I noticed there was a worldwide surge in the number of people searching for "Nutella recipes" during the lockdown.

Health fact: Two tablespoons of Nutella contains 200 calories.

Apart from Nutella, the Ferrero group sells products like kinder joy, tic tac and Ferrero Rocher chocolates in India, the company has also launched "kinder creamy" in Southern India, the Ferrero group gives a tough competition to the Nestle Chocolates and kinder joy specifically gained a lot of popularity , after the success of Kinder Joy , Cadbury launched their "Lickables" to compete with the product.

Also Read - Why are Pringles more expensive than "traditional" chips?

In a recent interview, the MD of the Ferrero group (India) claimed that the sales of Nutella rose about 20 percent this year due to the "changing lifestyle" of Indians and their perspective on chocolate spreads.

Do you like Nutella? Let us know your opinions in the comments section!

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