Ferrero is a chocolate company founded in Italy in 1946. Its founder is Pietro Ferrero. Later, the company was raised by his son, Michele Ferrero. So, how did this father and son write a success story with chocolate? Do you want to know?
It is considered the second largest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world after Mars company. Worldwide, the Ferrero Group, headed by CEO Giovanni Ferrero, has 38 companies, 18 factories, and approximately 40,000 employees as of 2021. Among the brands of the company are Kinder, Ferrero Rocher, Nutella.
They bought Turkish hazelnut export giant Oltan Gıda (later Ferrero Fındık). The company, which meets 90% of its hazelnut needs from Turkey, established its 19th factory in Manisa, Turkey.
A FAMILY STORY
To discover the roots of this success, we need to go back to the 40s. The 1940s were the years when mother Piera and father Pietro turned a patisserie into a factory. Ferrero Family, II. It was the first Italian manufacturer to produce abroad in the confectionery industry after World War II. Later the company turned into a true international group. These first and decisive steps were taken thanks to products “invented” by Pietro Ferrero and his then very young son, Michele. Another key to success was the effective sales network organized by Pietro's brother, Giovanni, who died in 1949.
A WORLDWIDE SUCCESS
Following the company's success in Italy, Michele Ferrero also decided to manufacture abroad. In 1956, a large-scale facility was inaugurated in Germany, and another facility was opened in France shortly thereafter. The opening of commercial offices and production centers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain marked the beginning of Ferrero's rapid expansion in Europe. In the years that followed, Ferrero became a global company, opening companies and facilities in North and South America, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Australia, and more recently Turkey, Mexico and China.
Why and how Ferrero invented Nutella?
The original version of Nutella was created in Turin in 1946 by Pietro Ferrero, the founder of the Ferrero company. There was very little cocoa at that time because of the war. That's why Mr. Ferrero supplemented the little cocoa with plenty of hazelnuts.
This first version was called "pasta gianduja". Gianduja was (and still is!) a sweet chocolate cream with about 30% hazelnut paste, invented around the years of Napoléon (1796-1814). The origin of Gianduja chocolate is similar to the origin of Nutella. Since the Mediterranean was under British siege, a chocolatier in Turin expanded the small chocolate bar in his hand by mixing it with hazelnuts.
Ferrero's Pasta ganduja was made in loaves and wrapped in foil so it could be sliced and put on bread for mothers to make sandwiches for their kids. But many kids throw away the bread and eat only gianduja pasta!
Pivot time
Mr. Ferrero turned the product into a paste that came in a jar so it could be spread on bread. This later became known as "supercrema gianduja".
From the very beginning, the Nutella spread was well received by the poor Italian population of the time, as it was a much cheaper way for people to enjoy something that tasted so good... Nutella was a product everyone could enjoy. The product became so popular that Italian food stores started a service called "Smearing". Kids can go to local food stores with a slice of bread to "smear" their "supercrema gianduja".
In 1964, Ferrero's son, Michele Ferrero, rebranded Supercrema for international marketing. Its composition was changed and renamed "Nutella" (from the English word "nut" and the Italian soft ending "ella").
February 2015: Nutella inventor dies
Michele Ferrero, the second generation owner of the Ferrero Group, died at the age of 89 at her home in Monte Carlo.
Michele Ferrero, who was shown as the richest businessman in Italy during the 7 years before his death and was in the top 100 in the world, and his family had a total wealth of 23.5 billion dollars.
Michele Ferrero retired in 1997, leaving the management of the Ferrero Group to his sons, Pietro and Giovanni.
However, his son, Pietro Ferrero, died of a heart attack at the age of 48 while cycling in South Africa, where he was for social enterprises. Since then, the management of the group has been held by the last representative of the 3rd generation, Giovanni Ferrero.