The Ferrero group will market a plant-based version of its flagship product in three European countries to adapt to “new food trends”.
It’s official, the famous chocolate spread Nutella is getting its plant-based version, without animal products. Announced last May by the Ferrero group, the marketing of its new product will begin on September 4 in Italian and French supermarkets, then in Belgium afterwards. Germany should also be entitled to it but at an undetermined date.
The “Nutella Plant Based” brand was also registered in Italy in December 2023 with the Italian Patent and Markets Office (UIBM). It will be produced in Italy in the Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi plant and its recommended unit price will be around 4.19 euros for 350 grams (compared to 4.09 euros on average for the classic version).
Attracting “flexitarians”
The new plant-based recipe therefore removes skimmed milk powder from its ingredients in favor of a syrup based on rice and chickpeas. “The Ferrero group is always on the lookout and looking for new product categories to serve new food trends,” the transalpine company told BFM Business in July, confirming information reported a few weeks earlier by the specialized Italian press.
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A way for the brand to attract “vegan consumers” but also those “who wish to diversify their diet with plant-based products”. Vegans, vegetarians and “flexitarians” – consumers who want to reduce their consumption of animal proteins – represent a growing segment. Which has the gift of attracting the attention of large agri-food groups.
An increasingly competitive market
But this is not the only reason pushing Ferrero to diversify: serious competitors have already made their place on this market like Rigoni di Asagio and its Nocciolata brand or Funky Veggie and Jardin Bio.
These brands have also chosen to get rid of palm oil, which is accused of being partly responsible for deforestation in Asia. As such, in January 2022, Nutella saw its complaint dismissed for denigration and parasitism against Rigoni.
At the beginning of the year, we even learned that the Italian champion of spreads had seen its market share fall by ten points over the last five years under the pressure of this hyper-competitive climate.
