World Nutella Day 2021: 12 Crazy Facts You May Not Know About The Spread
World Nutella Day is a holiday started in 2007 by blogger and Nutella super-fan Sara Rosso for fellow fans around the world to come together and celebrate the delicious spread.
Celebrated every Feb. 5, World Nutella Day lets fans from around the world share photos, recipes and messages declaring their love for Nutella.
To mark World Nutella Day this Friday, here are 12 facts about Nutella that you may not know about the hazelnut and cocoa cream.
1. Humble beginnings
Introduced only in 1964, the chocolate filling became popular worldwide shortly after Michele Ferrero tweaked the recipe of his father and Italian pastry maker Pietro Ferrero's Supercrema Gianduja and renamed it "Nutella" with the intention of marketing it across Europe.
2. It was originally sold as a solid block
Pietro Ferrero originally made his chocolate-hazelnut paste, called the Giandujot, in the shape of a loaf that was meant to be sliced and spread on bread, according to the Nutella website.
3. Nutella takes up a lot of the world's hazelnut supply
Nutella-maker Ferrero uses about a quarter of the world's hazelnut supply every year -- equating to about 100,000 tons, NPR reported. It is also said that the Alba, Italy-based company's hazelnut supply could fill the Roman Colosseum. Now that is a lot of hazelnuts.
4. Each Nutella jar contains 52 hazelnuts
In every 14-ounce jar of Nutella, there is an average of 52 hazelnuts. Advertisements of the spread also noted that hazelnuts make up about 13% of the product.
5. Nutella is sold in 160 countries
Nutella is now being sold in 160 countries 50 years since its launch in Italy.
6. No, it is not healthy
In a 2012 class-action lawsuit, Ferrero was slammed after advertising Nutella as part of a healthy breakfast. One of the chocolate paste's main ingredients is sugar.
7. It has a sister company
Aside from chocolate brands Ferrero and Kinder, the Ferrero family also owns Tic Tac. The refreshing mints were released in 1969, only a few years after Nutella's launch.
8. It means serious business
In 2008, Michele Ferrero became Italy's richest man, with an estimated $11 billion in wealth.
9. It runs in the family
Giovanni Ferrero is Ferrero's chief executive and is the son of Michele Ferrero. His brother, Pietro, shared the title of CEO until his sudden death in 2011.
10. The amount of Nutella produced in a year weighs as much as the Empire State Building
The chocolate spread is in such high demand that the amount of it produced every year weighs as much as, if not more than, the Empire State Building in New York. That would be about 365,000 tons.
11. It could build a Great Wall
If you could line up the Great Wall of China eight times, it would equate to the number of Nutella jars sold in a year.
12. Every 2.5 seconds, one Nutella jar gets sold
This means that in 10 minutes, about 240 bottles of Nutella have already been bought.
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