Ferrero changes Nutella, Ferrero Rocher in U.S. market

Ferrero North America is adding peanuts to its Nutella, turning its Ferrero Rocher spheres into squares and adding Dr Pepper flavor to Tic Tacs, all in the hopes of winning over more U.S. consumers.  

The confectioner announced its slate of new products ahead of the annual Sweets and Snacks Expo, which kicks off Monday in Indianapolis. The company plans to display its largest-ever array of new products, like Butterfinger Marshmallow and Crunch White, at the trade event.

Ferrero, which was founded in Italy but is now based in Luxembourg, entered North America nearly a half century ago, but the company only really started investing in the market over the last decade. It has recently brought some of its global brands over to the U.S., like Kinder, the maker of Kinder Buenos and Joy eggs.

Ferrero has also expanded its U.S. business through a series of acquisitions: Fannie May, Brach’s owner Ferrera, Nestle’s U.S. candy business and Halo Top owner Wells Enterprises. The Nestle deal in particular brought Nerds, Butterfinger and Raisinets into Ferrero’s portfolio.

Ferrero has grown to become the third-largest U.S. candy company, trailing only Hershey and Mars, according to Evercore ISI. But to close the gap, it still has a lot of ground to cover. Ferrero Rocher held 2% of the U.S. chocolate market share in the 12 weeks ended April 6, according to the bank, citing Circana data. That’s well below the double-digit share held by Hershey’s namesake candy and Reese’s, as well as Mars’ M&M’s.

“[Executive chair] Mr. Ferrero has been very clear: the U.S. is the biggest market in the world, it’s the most important market in the world. We will win in the U.S.,” Michael Lindsay, president and chief business officer of Ferrero North America, told CNBC.

While publicly traded candy companies like Hershey and Mondelez have seen sales struggle in recent months, Ferrero’s U.S. business saw 3.4% dollar growth in the 52 weeks ended April 20, according to the company. Its privately-held parent company saw an 8.9% increase in turnover — or revenue — in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Ferrero disclosed.

Now the company is focusing on organic growth through innovation meant to appeal specifically to U.S. consumers.  

“You do have to Americanize it at some point to get to that next level of love with the American consumer,” Lindsay said. “In a very simple way, our strategy is to take these global power brands, or the recently acquired U.S. power brands, and then introduce an American twist to them that the consumer here hasn’t seen before and hopefully will end up loving.”

Ferrero plans to bring American twists to many of its biggest products.

Its iconic Ferrero Rocher candy will transform into squares with a chocolate shell, hazelnuts and a creamy filling. The product will come in at least five varieties – milk, dark, white, caramel and assorted – and will hit shelves in September.

Ferrero Rocher isn’t the only brand getting a dramatic addition.

For the first time in six decades, Nutella will introduce a new flavor: Nutella Peanut. The spread mixes the taste of classic Nutella’s cocoa and hazelnut with roasted peanuts. It will hit grocery shelves next spring.

While the product will first launch in the U.S., Lindsay said that he’s already fielding calls from international colleagues excited about the new flavor.

“I assume it will do extremely well, and then as soon as we’re able, we’ll start shipping some overseas,” he said.

Given existing preferences for both peanuts and Nutella, Lindsay expects that Nutella Peanut will be a huge hit in Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia has the highest per capita Nutella consumption in the world, according to Lindsay.

Ferrero is investing $75 million to support manufacturing of Nutella Peanut at its existing plant in Franklin Park, Illinois. The company is also expanding a production plant in Ontario, Canada to support production of Ferrero Rocher chocolate squares and Nutella Biscuits.

Ferrero is also growing hazelnuts in Oregon as it moves to localize its supply chain for the nut, a key ingredient for both Nutella and Ferrero Rocher.

The company’s investments in its North American supply chain were in place before the Trump administration’s tariffs on dozens of countries, but the timing is fortuitous.

“This has been in progress for multiple years and been part of our long-term strategy for Mr. Ferrero when he entered the U.S. market about 10 to 15 years ago … Obviously recent events have made it even more important that we localize the supply chain,” Lindsay said, adding that the company has grown from 300 U.S. employees a decade ago to more than 5,000 today.

And Ferrero’s U.S. investments aren’t limited to its supply chain. Lindsay said the company plans to start “going very large” on marketing its brands.

“In fact, without spoiling it too much, you can expect to start seeing us in the biggest sporting events in the world, starting next year, in let’s say, February of ’26 and then over the summer of ’26 as well,” he said, hinting at marketing pushes during the Super Bowl and the World Cup.

After all, what’s more American than football?