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Ferrero makes and sells chocolate and sweet snacks, especially Nutella, Kinder treats, Ferrero Rocher, and Tic Tacs.
Ferrero is a global sweets company that makes chocolate and candy and sells it to grocery stores, convenience shops, and wholesalers, which then sell it to ordinary people like you and me. You probably know it best from Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread, and Kinder, the brand of chocolate treats often marketed to families. It also owns Tic Tac mints and makes Ferrero Rocher, the gold-wrapped hazelnut chocolates. In short, it makes small, affordable treats that people buy on impulse or as gifts. Think of it as a snack company whose real product is a familiar, comforting little treat at the checkout counter.
The company is still owned by the Ferrero family and is not listed on a stock exchange, so there is no stock price or buyback story to talk about. It is headquartered in Italy and has grown into one of the world's biggest confectionery businesses. Rather than chasing every category, it has focused on a few strong brands and grown them across many countries. A big recent move was buying the American chocolate maker Keebler, along with other cookie brands, from Kellogg, which expanded its US cookie business. It has also invested in biscuit and cookie brands, widening what it can offer beyond chocolate.
After the war, two brothers in Alba, Italy, worked in the family's small pastry shop. Pietro was the tinkerer, obsessed with new flavours and textures, and his brother Giovanni built the sales network. One invented; the other sold. That pairing became the engine of everything that followed.
The family set up a big production plant in Germany, the first Italian confectioner to build factories and offices abroad after the war. A second site in France soon followed. A small pastry shop was turning into a global player.
Chocolate was still too expensive after the war, so Pietro's son Michele pushed his father's old recipe further using new technology, making a spreadable treat that stretched scarce cocoa with hazelnuts. The result, Nutella, arrived a few years later and became the company's defining brand.
Ferrero partnered with Hershey and Blackstone and looked seriously at bidding for Cadbury, weighing a huge pile of borrowed money. In the end the family walked away. Michele convinced his sons the deal did not fit the family strategy: growing from its own products, not buying up other people's.
Ferrero acquired Oltan Group, the world's largest hazelnut supplier. Why care about nuts? Because hazelnuts are the heart of Nutella, and owning the source protected the company from prices and shortages.
Ferrero snapped up hazelnut specialist Oltan and British chocolate retailer Thorntons. After decades of growing from its own recipes, the family group started bringing other brands into the fold.
Lapo Civiletti, a long-time executive, became the first non-family CEO in the company's history. Giovanni Ferrero stepped into the executive chairman role to focus on long-term strategy, handing the day-to-day running to a professional manager.
Ferrero agreed to buy Nestlé's US confectionery business for a few billion dollars, picking up brands like Butterfinger, Baby Ruth and Crunch. Suddenly the company had American factories and a much bigger shelf in US stores.
A salmonella outbreak was traced to Kinder Surprise eggs made at a Belgian factory in Arlon. Authorities shut the plant and products were recalled across Europe, Canada and the US. It was a sharp reminder that a single factory problem could shake trust in a brand sold around the world.
Ferrero acquired Fresystem, the Italian leader in frozen bakery, and agreed to buy the Medin snack-bar plant in Germany. Nutella and candy were no longer the whole story: the company wanted everyday snacking too.
Ferrero announced it would acquire WK Kellogg Co, adding familiar breakfast cereals in the US, Canada and the Caribbean. The move took the group beyond confectionery and pushed it toward becoming a global sweet-packaged food player.
Ferrero removed the group CEO role and split leadership in two: a CEO for Ferrero Core, and a president for ice cream and WK Kellogg. Giovanni Ferrero said the goal of doubling the business in under ten years had become reality under Civiletti, and now the structure had to match a much wider portfolio.
Ferrero makes money by selling large volumes of packaged sweets, not by charging high prices for each item. Its brands are the main reason stores stock its products and shoppers reach for them. Its free cash mostly goes back into the business and into buying other brands, keeping the family-owned model intact. The simple story is a family-controlled treat maker that wins with well-known brands and steady global demand.
Saved answer · last researched 17 Oct 2026