If you’ve tasted it, you know that there is just something magical about Nutella. When I studied abroad in Italy my host mom would serve her two little boys Nutella on toast every morning and she would scold me when I “accidentally” smothered my toast in Nutella. “Solo un po” she would instruct me and I would nod.
In honor of this joyous day, World Nutella Day, I wanted to share with you some fun facts about the flawless spread that most Italians wake up to.
1. Nutella started as a solution to the shortage of cocoa supplies after World War II.
2. Pietro Ferrero from Piedmont invented it when he combined hazelnuts, sugar and just a “hint” of cocoa.
3. It wasn’t originally spreadable, Pietro Ferrero originally shaped it into a loaf that was sliced and served on bread.
4. It was originally called “Giandujot” after a famous carnival character, then “SuperCrema” when it became a spread. It wasn’t until 1964, when Ferrero’s son, Michele improved the recipe to create the jar we know with the name we know, Nutella.
5. The current owners of Ferrero, which includes Kinder chocolates and Nutella are among the top 50 richest people in the world, according to Forbes.
6. Sara Rosso, an Italian-American blogger invented World Nutella Day on February 5th, 2007.
7. Nutella is the second most popular food brand on Facebok, second only to Oreo with over 30 million likes.
8. France consumes more nutella per person than Americans or Italians, eating 2.2 pounds of Nutella per person each year.
9. It is not pronounced “nut-ella” but actually Nutella’s official website explains it is pronounced “new-tell-uh.”
10. The shape of the bottle was important to its success. Named the “Pelikan” after an oversized inkwell, the large opening made it easy to scoop out the spread with a knife or spoon.
11. Nutella was marketed to “intelligent housewives” in the 1950s lauding moms for understanding the spread’s “high-energy value” costing merely pennies per meal per person.