Nutella, that heavenly combination of hazelnut and chocolate spread, has been having a bit of a moment lately. This delicacy has been a staple in Europe for decades, where a popular breakfast is toast with Nutella spread, and in the past few years, North Americans have discovered it for themselves. And since this stuff if basically a spreadable version Ferrero Rocher, there’s no turning back now.
All of this makes Maria Franca Fissolo, widow of the creator of Nutella, Michele Ferrero, very happy. At nearly 100 years old, Fissolo is for all intents and purposes the queen of Nutella and all other Ferrero brand candies, with an estimated net worth of $24.6 billion. Who would have guessed that the wife of a candy maker would live to be 100?
Interestingly, despite being a billion dollar product today, Nutella was born out of scarcity. The concept was developed by Michele Ferrero’s father in Italy during WWII, when cocoa was very hard to come by. He had the idea to extend the chocolate using hazelnuts, which grow plentifully in that region of Italy. The first creation was actually a solid block, but was later modified and converted to the creamy, spreadable formula that we all know and love today.
Along with Nutella, the Ferrero family of products includes other global favorites, like Kinder brand chocolate products (which I always assumed were German) and Tic Tac candies (which I think a lot of people assume are from the US).
Anyway, if you haven’t yet experienced the joy of Nutella, here are some recipe ideas to get you started:
- Crepe filled with Nutella and sliced banana
- Nutella-stuffed French toast
- Strawberries dipped in Nutella
- Nutella-filled crescent rolls
- Nutella mousse
- No-bake Nutella cheesecake
Or the most popular way, which is to shovel it straight into your mouth with a spoon as fast as you can!