The Untold Truth Of Nutella
When it comes to sweet spreads, nobody does it like Nutella. The creamy, chocolatey hazelnut-infused spread has been winning over the hearts of consumers since it was first spread on top of bread. You may think it's something that showed up on the scene in last decade or so, but it's actually over half a century old. Nutella is an ubiquitous staple that has built its own sort of cult following — it's eaten for breakfast lunch, dinner and dessert. It's spread on toast, melted into warm sandwiches, used to make delectable bakes goods, and often eaten straight out of the jar. Despite how much you may love Nutella though, there are probably some things you didn't know about the iconic Italian jars of sinful deliciousness. From the pronunciation of its name to the ingredients, here's what you need to know about Nutella.
You're not saying it right
Do you ever feel slightly embarrassed when someone corrects you after you've constantly been pronouncing a word wrong? Well, we hate to burst your bubble, but you've probably been pronouncing Nutella wrong. While most of us stress the "nut" part of the word with an "uh," that's totally not how you should be saying it. The correct pronunciation is not 'nut-ell-uh', it's 'new-tell-uh'. "Newtella" not only put the correct pronunciation under their FAQ section of their website at one time, but they've made commercials with the correct pronunciation — which makes us wonder how we've been getting it wrong all this time? If you've been pronouncing it wrong, don't worry, you're not alone.
It was invented because of Napoleon
Believe it or not, the tasty spread we all know and love may never have existed if it weren't for Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1806, as part of Napoleon Bonaparte's quest to conquer Europe, he enacted a blockade that halted British trade. This was bad news for Turin, Italy. Due to the blockade, the flow of cacao was interrupted, making chocolate super expensive and hard to find. As legend has it, when Turin chocolatiers found themselves low on cacao, they started adding hazelnuts to their chocolate in order to stretch out supplies. It was this smart thinking and delicious combination that supposedly gave birth to gianduia — also known as gianduja — the paste that would become the inspiration for Nutella.
And resurrected because of Hitler
During World War II, cocoa was scarce — and people tend to do crazy things when chocolate supplies run low. As a means of dealing with rationing, Italian baker Pietro Ferrero recreated an old recipe for gianduja — an Italian spread containing cocoa and hazelnuts. He called the new recipe Pasta Gianduja and shaped it into bricks. Then, after the war in 1951, Ferrero's son, Michele, altered the recipe to make it spreadable, turning it into the creamy Nutella concoction we love today.
It's insanely popular
People love Nutella, and we mean love Nutella. According to Insider, jars sell at the rate of one every 2.5 seconds, which means the amount of it sold each year is more than enough to circle the globe. According to Nutella themselves, the amount of Nutella they produce in year weighs about the same as the Empire State Building. That's a whole lot of Nutella love! Not only that, but within one year of having an official Facebook page, Nutella managed reach 10 million fans. Maybe it's the creamy delectable flavor, maybe it's the cute little containers, whatever it is, Nutella certainly has a fan base that has jars flying off the shelf.
They changed their recipe, and fans didn't take it well
When it comes to the classic flavor of Nutella, it's best not to mess with a good thing. According to Time, when Nutella released a statement in 2017 admitting they had altered the recipe, devoted Nutella lovers were outraged. The company claimed that Nutella was still made from seven simple ingredients including hazelnuts, cocoa, sugar, and palm oil, but now included some "fine-tuning". Rather than using whey powder, American-sold Nutella replaced it with the same amount of milk powder. The reasoning was to increase the quality and consistency.
The change, however, did not go unnoticed by Nutella lovers. Angered Nutella fans took to social media claiming it tastes sweeter, while others expressed their disappointment. Why Nutella? Why? Looks like it's best to leave this recipe alone.
There's a Nutella Cafe
Good news Nutella fans, America opened its first Nutella Cafe in 2017 and it's located in Chicago. Letting you get your Nutella fix, the cafe features a Nutella-inspired menu that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Menu items like croissants and waffles come topped with Nutella, while there are items like paninis for when you're in the mood for savory fare. Of course, it wouldn't be Nutella without making you feel like you're eating inside of a jar itself. The entire cafe is decked out in modern Nutella décor. Cream colored walls, red accents, and lights shaped like hazelnut plant flowers make you want to indulge in all things Nutella.
A second location is planned for New York City in late 2018 — so maybe there's a chance of one hitting your city eventually.
It caused a riot
Word to the wise, don't change the price of Nutella. French grocery chain Intermarché found out the hard way what happens when you do. According to NPR, the chain dropped Nutella prices by 70 percent, which in turn caused a stockpiling frenzy as Nutella lovers dashed to the market to buy up jars in mass quantities. While that may sound good for sales, it's like announcing a Black Friday deal without regulating the crowd. Things got out of hand as customers fought over jars, causing a riot to erupt. The grocery chain later went under investigation as it might have violated France's strict trading laws. Looks like if Nutella prices fall, there's a reason for concern.
It's not as healthy as they'd like you to think
A change in price isn't the only fuss Nutella has caused, their health claims also stirred up some trouble. When Nutella claimed its delicious hazelnut spread was healthy, the company found itself in high water. Just one serving (two tablespoons) contains 11 grams of fat and a whopping 21 grams of sugar. And who only eats two tablespoons of Nutella?
According to Huffington Post, a class-action lawsuit began when a Californian mom realized the product she had been feeding her daughter was not healthy, despite Nutella ads claiming otherwise. In response, manufacturer Ferrero agreed to a $3 million settlement, and had to change labeling along with some of the marketing statements.
Nutella uses more hazelnuts than anyone
Did you ever wonder how many hazelnuts it takes to make one single jar of Nutella? It takes as many as 94, and each serving of the spread contains about five hazelnuts. All those hazelnuts per jar put Nutella in the number one spot for hazelnut usage in the world. That's a pretty big accomplishment. So just about how much of the world's supply does Nutella use? According to BBC News, Nutella uses 25 percent of the world's hazelnut production. Let's hope the hazelnut supplies hold up — if they have to change the recipe again, people are not going to be happy.
There's a day just for Nutella
Nutella is so loved that is has its own day, World Nutella Day, which is celebrated every year on February 5. According to the website, World Nutella Day was the invention of American blogger and Nutella lover Sara Rosso, who created it in 2007. On this day, fans from all over take to social media to share their love for Nutella. The day was such a success that in 2015 Nutella maker Ferrero officially took it over.
It has its own stamp
Nutella not only has its own day, but it also has its own limited-edition stamp. In honor of its 50th anniversary, Italy issued a Nutella stamp. There were 2.7 million of the stamp released, and they were part of a series of stamps designed to celebrate Italy's economic system. The commemorative stamp features a jar of Nutella along with two years, 1964 and 2014. The year 1964 was when Nutella first started marketing its product as such, while 2014 is the year the stamp was released.
It made the Guinness Book of World Records
If you thought having a stamp along with a day dedicated to Nutella is impressive, so is making the Guinness Book of World Records. In May 2005, Nutella made history by winning a spot in the book for the world's largest continental breakfast. According to Guinness World Records, 27,854 people attended the 40th celebration of Nutella in Gelsenkirchen, Germany where each guest received bread rolls, orange juice, butter, cream cheese, yogurt drink, and Nutella. Sounds like Nutella is making breakfast history in more way than one.