Nutella

File:Tartine et pot de Nutella.jpg

Nutella is the brand name of a hazelnut-based sweet spread created by the Italian company Ferrero.

History

Predecessors

Although Nutella was first marketed in 1964, its predecessor — a spread named "Supercrema", had been marketed by Ferrero since 1951, and it was in turn derived from a previous product known as "Pasta Gianduja"; the latter was a solid block (not a spread) created by Pietro Ferrero, the brand founder, in the 1940's. The main chocolate-like flavoring ingredient, hazelnut, is a typical product of the Langhe, the area of Piedmont where the Ferrero family originates (Pietro had its patisserie in Alba, Province of Cuneo). These products were all preparations of gianduja, a chocolate and hazelnut blend developed in Italy after excessive taxes on cocoa beans hindered the diffusion of conventional chocolate.

Launch

In 1963, Pietro's son Michele Ferrero decided to revamp Supercrema, with the intention of marketing it Europe-wide; its composition was modified, as well as the label image and brand name: the name "Nutella" (based on the word "nut") and its logo were registered towards the end of the same year, and remain unchanged to this day. The first jar of Nutella left the Ferrero factory in Alba (in the Province of Cuneo, Piedmont), on April 20 1964. The product was an instant success, and remains widely popular to this day. The estimated Italian production of Nutella averages 179,000 tons per year.

Pronunciation

The Italian pronunciation is IPA: [nu'tella], and an approximation to this is made in most other languages. In English it is normally pronounced [nʌ'telə], reflecting its derivation from the English word "nut" [nʌt]. Some English speakers may pronounce it [nju:'telə].

Composition

Nutella is a modified form of gianduja. Unsurprisingly, the exact recipe is a secret closely guarded by Ferrero. According to the product label, the main ingredients for Nutella are sugar and modified vegetable oils with hazelnut and cocoa comprising only about 20% of the ingredients. Nutella is marketed as "hazelnut cream" in many countries; it cannot be labelled as a chocolate cream under Italian law, as it does not meet minimum cocoa concentration criteria. NUTELLA KILLS!!

Allergy to peanuts

Nutella is generally not recommended in people with allergy to nuts. Still, according to the Nutella USA FAQ, the peanut oil used in Nutella production goes through a hot-solvent extraction process, which removes its protein content and is thus supposed to make it non-allergenic.

Listed ingredients

• Poland: sugar, rapeseed oil, hazelnuts (13%), cocoa (7.4%), skimmed milk (5%), lactose, soya lecithin, vanillin (an artificial flavor).
• United Kingdom : sugar, vegetable oils, hazelnuts (13%), fat-reduced cocoa powder, skimmed milk powder (6.6%), whey powder, emulsifier, flavouring
• USA: sugar, peanut oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skimmed milk, reduced mineral whey, partially hydrogenated peanut oil, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), vanillin (an artificial flavor).

Containers

Although Nutella is marketed in a variety of packages, its stereotypical containers have always been those made of glass (plastic containers are more common in the USA and Greece). Initially, the most popular glass containers were quite small, in fact just the size of a standard table glass for drinking, with the result that they can be used as normal table glasses once the product inside has been consumed. Different forms of these glasses are produced, turning them into collectible items.

Nowadays, Nutella is more frequently marketed in jars of a characteristic, trademarked shape (pictured above). These are often 200-g, 400-g or 750-g jars, although in some countries (such as Italy and France), 3-kg and 5-kg jars are available.

Uses

• Spread: Nutella is a sweet spread which lends itself to multiple uses. The traditional Italian way to eat it is spread on a slice of crusted bread ("pane e Nutella"), but it may be spread upon a variety of supports, including sandwiches, biscuits, and pretzels.
• Baking Ingredient: It is also frequently used as a flavouring ingredient in baked sweets.
• Pastry Filling: In many French cities, Nutella-filled crêpes are available, often accompanied by sliced fruit such as bananas or strawberries. These are also available in Italy (minus the fruit), where however Nutella-filled croissants are more popular.
• Frosting: Nutella frosting is concocted by mixing in a small amount of thinning agent (commonly Amaretto or some other complementary flavoring). The topping can then be applied as any other frosting.

Success

In Italy

In its home country of Italy, Nutella has become a cultural and social phenomenon. Many books have been written about it, and it is the core of a celebrated scene in the movie Bianca, by the Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti, in which a character relieves his post-coital anxieties by eating from a gigantic Nutella jar.

Abroad

Nutella is also very popular in the rest of Europe, Canada, in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and South Africa, mostly with children and teenagers. This is less true in the United States, where the product was only available as an expensive import until the 2000s. In the United States, basketball star Kobe Bryant was a former spokesman for Nutella, having grown up in Italy. Nutella is briefly mentioned in Chloé Doutre-Roussel's "The Chocolate Connoisseur", which includes an anecdote of her mother flying into Mexico with several jars and smearing it on her face to convince a Customs Officer that it was a facial mask, and not a banned food product.

Competitors

While Nutella has generally become synonymous with hazelnut and chocolate spread worldwide, a similar product with another brand name enjoys wider success in some countries. This includes "Merenda" in Greece ("merenda" is Italian for a mid-afternoon snack) and Nocilla in Spain

• Nocilla in Spain (Nocilla is an originally Spanish product. Nutella only entered the Spanish market recently).
• East Germans called it Nudossi. (Nudossi, an originally East German product, is still available in the former East German part of reunited Germany, but is almost unknown in former West Germany.)
• Mars has a brown-and-white swirled hazelnut-chocolate spread, named for its Milky Way bar.

See also

• Gnutella, a file sharing protocol, is named as a pun on 'Nutella' and the GNU licensing scheme. Its pronunciation is similar to how an English-speaker would pronounce "Nutella".

Sources

• http://www.nutella.it/ Official Nutella website (in Italian; there is a section on product history).
• RecipeZaar - Nutella Recipes

External links

• Official websites: Italian, English (USA), Spanish (Spain).
• Nutella Football Game The Official Football Videogame for PC
• World Nutella Day, February 6th