Milan, October 29 (askanews) – Ferrero pulls a new range from Willy Wonka's hat, dedicated to the magic of the Chocolate Factory. And the Alba-based company's world is tinged with purple, with a reimagined brand that speaks to those who have never forgotten the child they once were. The Wonka range, a brand to which Ferrero has held the rights for the confectionery sector since 2018, isn't the only offering presented at the group's second Innovation Day.
From biscuits to breakfast, the five new products for the Italian market illustrate Ferrero's growth trajectory, which also involves historic brands, starting with Nutella: "The most important of these innovations is Nutella Cookies. It has a fragrance that only Nutella could bring to the market. It is cooked very slowly to maintain the cookie's crispiness.
Inside there is a significant amount of Nutella, which is added once the cookie is cooked,” explained Fabrizio Gavelli, president and CEO of Ferrero Commerciale Italia. “Another unique feature: it is individually packaged, both to preserve quality and to make it available for all occasions when people eat out.
We're starting with a massive sampling campaign of 120.000 pieces around Italy. We'll be doing a real tour, almost like a rock band." For the second Nutella-branded cookie, following the 2019 debut of Nutella biscuits, Ferrero has combined its know-how with the biscuit-making experience of Delacre, a Belgian company acquired ten years ago. The integration of businesses acquired over the years is a thread that also unites other new products, starting with the Wonka range produced in the English factory in Alfreton, acquired in 2015 with the Thorntons confectionery brand. "The question that our research and development department started with was: What products would Willy Wonka produce? So we're bringing the magic and wonder, the wonder of the Wonka world, to the world of chocolate and beyond, because we're launching a delicious caramel chocolate bar, we're launching a Kinder Joy Wonka, and we're launching two different candy varieties, pralines shaped like Willy Wonka's magic hat. So we truly have a very complete line that aims to make the magic of Willy Wonka come true." For the launch of Wonka, Ferrero, which has entered into an exclusive global partnership with Netflix, has also organized a competition with the "Golden Ticket" up for grabs, which can win a Wonka Box and enter the final drawing for a trip to Las Vegas for two, including a visit to Netflix House. All these innovations presented in Milan come 80 years after the founding of the Alba pastry shop, now a global group that, with its latest acquisitions, exceeds 25 billion in turnover. A group that has made innovation the lever to maintain consumer trust, even in a challenging market like the one experienced over the past year: "Continuing to innovate is certainly what consumers expect from Ferrero. So in addition to what we've said, we also have other important innovations. Pocket Coffee enters the world of bars and also Pocket Coffee eggs. In addition to this, we are also launching Pan au Nutella, which obviously recalls Pan au Chocolat, produced in Italy in our factories in Caivano near Naples, at the Free System company we acquired three years ago. And the latest major innovation we are launching today is Eat Natural Granola. For us, being in the granola cereal world means entering a segment, that of granola, which is experiencing rapid growth. It represents a third of the cereal market in Italy and has grown by 7% annually in recent years." For Ferrero, which since 2015 has embarked on a new path made not only of internal growth but also of acquisitions, today the new categories in Italy are worth 8,1 billion euros, three times the 3,3 billion euros of the core products, chocolate and spreads.
Askanews