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The story
Founded by Pietro Ferrero in 1946, in Alba.1
In 1946, Pietro Ferrero, an Italian pastry chef invented a cream of hazelnuts and cocoa, a secret recipe that used nuts to cut down on the more expensive cocoa in a spread derived from gianduja (a typical Turin product), calling it Pasta Gianduja. The initial product came in solid loaves wrapped in aluminium foil, which had to be sliced with a knife, and was succeeded by a spreadable version called Supercrema.
With assistance from his brother Giovanni Ferrero Sr., Pietro Ferrero created his new company to produce and market the initial product. Pietro was succeeded by his son Michele Ferrero as chief executive. Michele and his wife Maria Franca relaunched his father's recipe as Nutella, which was first sold in 1964. They opened production sites and offices abroad, and Nutella eventually became the world's leading chocolate-nut spread brand. Ferrero is the world's largest consumer of hazelnuts, buying up 25% of global production in 2014.
Michele Ferrero later passed the reins of daily management to his own sons, Pietro Jr. and Giovanni Ferrero, grandsons to the founder. However, in 2011, Pietro Jr. died at the age of 47 after suffering a heart attack while cycling in South Africa. In 2015, Giovanni Ferrero, grandson of Pietro and son of Michele Ferrero, took the reins as executive chairman and majority owner. In September 2017, Lapo Civiletti, a longtime executive at the company, became the first non-family CEO in the history of the company. Giovanni Ferrero instead became the executive chairman, focusing on long-term strategy. As of July 9, 2024, Giovanni Ferrero was named the wealthiest person in Italy with a net worth of $43.3 billion.
The company places great emphasis on secrecy, reportedly to guard against industrial espionage. It has never held a press conference and does not allow media visits to its plants. Ferrero's products are made with machines designed by an in-house engineering department.
As of April 2024, Fortune Magazine reported that Ferraro was the world's second largest chocolate company, after American company Mars Inc.. In its 2025 financial statements released February 2026, the company reported 48,697 employees worldwide, and 36 manufacturing plants. The company also reported that it produced 1.5 million tons of food in 2025.
In March 2026, the company announced a corporate restructuring to support its sweet packaged foods businesses, to go into effect on September 1, 2026. Ferrero executive chairman Giovanni Ferrero was announced as president of Ferrero International S.A., and two new roles were created reporting to him: Alessandro Nervegna was named CEO of Ferrero Core, a newly established business unit including the company's Confectionery; Biscuits and Bakery; and Better-For-You businesses, and Ferrero CEO Lapo Civiletti was named president of Ferrero Ice Cream and WK Kellogg Co.
In April 2026, the European Commission conducted unannounced antitrust inspections at Ferrero's premises in order to investigate possible violations of Article 101 and Article 102 TFEU. The investigation concerns potentially illegal market segmentation by Ferrero through restrictions on cross-border trade and multi-country purchases within the European single market. According to the Commission, the inspections took place in two EU member states.
Also in 2026, the company launched Nutella Peanut, its first new Nutella flavor since 1964.
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2022 salmonella outbreak
On 6 April 2022, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) began investigating a "rapidly evolving" outbreak of salmonella linked to Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs. The outbreak affected European countries, with products being recalled "as a precautionary step". Products were also recalled in Canada and the US.
On 8 April, Belgian authorities ordered the closure of a Kinder chocolate factory in Arlon suspected to be behind the outbreak. On 12 April, the EFSA and the ECDC published a rapid outbreak assessment on a multi-country outbreak of monophasic salmonella typhimurium linked to chocolate products made at the Belgian factory. The report found that in December 2021, salmonella was detected in a buttermilk tank at the Belgian establishment during the manufacturer's own checks. The company implemented some hygiene measures and increased sampling and testing of the products and the processing environment. After negative salmonella testing, it then distributed the chocolate products across Europe and globally.
As of 8 April 2022, 150 cases had been reported in ten European countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ferrero SpA, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5