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Ferrero SpA
Ferrero makes and sells chocolate and sweet treats — from Nutella and Kinder to Tic Tacs and biscuits — to shoppers around the world.
Ferrero is the Italian family behind some of the world's most famous sweet treats. You almost certainly know it without knowing the name: it makes Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread that sells by the jarful across the planet, and the Kinder line of chocolates — the little bars, the surprise eggs, the happy hippos — that are designed for kids and their parents' wallets. In all, it sells chocolate, mints, biscuits, baked snacks, breakfast cereals, and now ice cream, in countries everywhere.
Its business model is straightforward: it builds brands people reach for by habit, then sells them at a modest price so buying feels easy. Parents buy Kinder for a small reward; families buy Nutella to spread on toast; offices keep a bowl of Tic Tacs by the door. Ferrero sells to supermarkets and shops, who then sell to us — so the company earns its money by getting its products onto as many shelves as possible. Its magic is brand loyalty: once a kid grows up on Kinder, the taste is a lifelong hook. The company is famously private. It is still controlled by the Ferrero family, which founded it in Italy in the 1940s and built it into a global giant while staying out of the stock market. That privacy lets it take long bets — building factories, launching new products, and buying other brands — without answering to Wall Street every three months. In recent years it has grown by acquisition too, adding biscuit and snack businesses to widen its reach beyond chocolate.
Its main rivals are the other global candy names, like Mondelez International, the maker of Cadbury and Oreo, and The Hershey Company, America's chocolate giant. Competition is real, but Ferrero has a rare gift: a handful of brands so loved that people will walk past a dozen cheaper options to find them. That is the whole business — small pleasures, sold in enormous volume, made to feel special.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Nov 2026
BIG PICTURE
Ferrero sells 39% of the chocolate in Italy, where it is from
- 39% Ferrero
- 61% Everyone else
Walk into any Italian supermarket and about four in every ten chocolate purchases go to one company. Ferrero's home market is anything but competitive for rivals: the company is expected to keep a 39% share of Italian chocolate sales in 2026. Nutella and Kinder sit in kitchens across the country, and that grip on shelves is the base it builds global expansion on. Source: Euromonitor, data from 2026
Timeline
Two Brothers Start in a Pastry Shop
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.
Ferrero Crosses the Border
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.
The Nutella Idea
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.
The Cadbury Bid Is Dropped
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 Buys Its Hazelnut Supplier
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.
The Buying Era Begins
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.
The First Non-Family CEO
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 Buys Nestlé's US Candy
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.
Salmonella in Kinder Eggs
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 Moves Into Frozen Bakery
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 Buys WK Kellogg
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.
One Big Job Becomes Two
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.