Chicago, who gave birth to everything, from the coffee maker and the mobile phone to the Ferris wheel and now a new pope, is about to add another potentially revolutionary development to his heritage: Nutella Peanut.
The first new variety of flavors of the emblematic propagation of Nutella de Notette in its 60 -year history should be deployed next year of the Italian Ferrero candy giant, with Chicago at the center of its plans.
Developed in five years by Ferrero food scientists, Nutella Peanut will be manufactured exclusively in its factory by Franklin Park West Suburban. Ferrero will invest $ 75 million in the factory and create 65 jobs to produce the hazelnut, peanut and chocolate mashup, the company said.
“We think it will be big,” said Seth Gonzalez, senior Nutella marketing director. “We plan that this becomes an important part of the portfolio in the future, and we therefore hope that consumers will take it behind and come to try it.”
However, nutella fans with a desire for peanuts may have to wait a bit.
The former Nestlé factory, which Ferrero acquired in 2018, also made bars of Baby Ruth and Butterfinger full, giving a step ahead to produce the new peanut spread, said Gonzalez. The factory is remutched to add the first Nutella production line to the United States by January. Nutella Peanut is expected to hit store shelves in April 2026.
The creation made in Chicago – adding peanuts to a propagation of hazelnut with cocoa which has remained unchanged since its introduction in 1964 – will be marketed in the Palace of North America, where peanut butter is, of course, a basic food.
But Nutella Peanut will keep the flavor distinctly Euro from the propagation of origin.
“We didn’t want it to be another peanut butter,” said Gonzalez. “There is a reason why cocoa is always connected as a peanut and coconut formula, instead of simply peanuts. It is more afternoon snack than lunch, for example.”
Ferrero will unveil Nutella Peanut, as well as the Ferrero Rocher chocolate squares and other innovations from Tuesday at Sweets & Snacks Expo, an annual event born in Chicago, which takes place this year in Indianapolis.
The new products represent the new global ambitions of the 80 -year -old ferrero, which has acquired in recent years
“The development of Nutella and Ferrero Rocher products specifically for the North American market represents a decisive moment in the history of our business,” said Michael Lindsey, president and business director of Ferrero North America, in a press release.
Founded in 1946 as a small pastry in Alba, Italy, Ferrero now has the third largest confectionery company in the world, with production factories on five continents and more than 47,500 employees.
Its inherited international products, notably Nutella, Kinder and Ferrero Rocher, have gained ground in the United States in recent years, as well as its growing portfolio of national brands.
Presented in the United States in the 1980s, the largest Nutella market remains Europe.
“Nutella is peanut butter from their market,” said Gonzalez.
Nutella’s revenues in the United States are up 8.8% in annual shift and increased by 88% since 2020, reinforced by the introduction of two new products-Nutella Biscuits and Nutella B-Prêté, said the company. Currently, Nutella products for the American market are manufactured in the factories of Canada and Mexico.
But Chicago will become the North American manufacturing link for Peanut Nutella.
“It’s just a large center of food and treats and snacks, manufacturing and marketing, and there are just a lot of big talents and a large technological infrastructure,” said Hugh McMullen, spokesperson for Ferrero USA. “And it was exciting to grow in Chicago and in the state of Illinois.”
Ferrero has built an important footprint in Illinois, assembling a number of candy brands, investing in factories and reaching more than 1,700 employees in manufacturing, offices and retail locations across the State.
In 2017, Ferrero bought Ferrara and Fannie May de Ferrero. The following year, he considerably widened his American portfolio and his imprint of Illinois with the acquisition of $ 2.8 billion in the American confectionery activity of Nestlé, adding brands such as Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and Crunch, as well as the factories in Bloomington, Franklin Park and Itasca.
Ferrero, whose American head office is in Parsippany, NJ, has invested considerably in its properties of Illinois, including $ 285 million in two extensions in its Bloomington factory, which does everything, from Crunch to Kinder Bueno, a European favorite introduced to the United States six years ago.
On the retail front, Ferrero opened his first Nutella coffee eight years ago on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, serving dishes such as waffles and pancakes garnished with the hazelnut chocolate concoction. A Nutella Peanut menu will arrive at the cafe next year, Gonzalez said.
In 2023, Ferrero launched its North American research and development center at the Marshall Field Building on State Street, where workers once brooded on the 13th floor before candies were outsourced in a Pennsylvania company at the dawn of the new millennium and the department store in Macy. Garrett Brands, based in Chicago, owner of Garrett Popcorn Shops, bought the Frango Chocolate brand from Macy’s in 2018.
Ferrero candy scientists have since created a certain number of innovations in the Chicago laboratory, including the new butterfinger flavors – Caramel Salé and Guimauve – as well as luxury varieties of Deluxe White and Three New Keebler.
While Nutella Peanut was developed in Ferrero’s Alba, Italy, research center, the breakthrough can have a big impact in Chicago. If the launch of Nutella peanuts is successful, the Franklin Park factory will probably be extended to manage an increased production and diversification to other Nutella products, Gonzalez said.
“We will have to invest in a factory that already deals with peanuts, which means that we will need more lines and expansion of our current facilities,” said Gonzalez. “This is the goal.”
rchannick@chicagogne.com
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