Hazelnuts Almost Replaced Chocolate

Most people don’t know this, but hazelnuts almost replaced chocolate.

Hazelnuts are one of the easiest fruits to grow. They’re relatively low maintenance, resistant to diseases and pests, and thrive in temperate climates across USDA hardiness zones 4 through 9.¹ They can handle both heat and cold, tolerate various soil types as long as drainage is good, and start producing nuts in just 3-4 years.² The trees flourish in regions with distinct seasons, particularly where winters are cool but not harsh.³

In the early 1800s, Napoleon’s Continental System blockade cut off Italy’s cocoa supply. Starting in 1806, Napoleon banned all English-imported goods to French-controlled ports, including Italy, as part of his war strategy against Britain.⁴ Britain controlled maritime trade routes from Mesoamerica to Europe, and the blockade made cocoa scarce and expensive across the continent.⁵

Turin’s chocolatiers were left with almost nothing. The city had been Europe’s chocolate capital for decades, renowned for cacao-based products across the continent.⁶ But by 1806, the prominence was about to collapse.⁷

That’s why they started mixing cocoa with things like sugar and hazelnuts. Piedmont’s Langhe region had abundant hazelnuts growing in the hills just south of Turin.⁸ When ground up, the hazelnuts took on the texture of cocoa powder, meaning they could stretch what little cocoa remained into a thick, ganache-like confection.⁹ The resulting paste was called gianduja.¹⁰

In 1852, the Turin chocolate company Caffarel invented gianduiotto, a small ingot-shaped candy made from the gianduja paste.¹¹ They named it after Gianduja, a carnival character representing the archetypal Piedmontese.¹² By 1865, actors dressed as Gianduja handed out the foil-wrapped treats during Turin’s carnival celebrations.¹³ The chocolates became famous instantly.¹⁴

That trick was mostly forgotten until 1946, when World War II once again made cocoa one of the most expensive commodities in Italy. Food rationing brought the same scarcity as Napoleon’s blockade.¹⁵ So a pastry chef named Pietro Ferrero ground hazelnuts into a paste and mixed it with a little cocoa and a lot of sugar.¹⁶

He shaped it into a loaf and called it Giandujot.¹⁷ The paste was so dense and thick it had to be cut with a knife.¹⁸ He sold it as a survival food for families struggling through post-war economic hardship.¹⁹ A kilogram of the hazelnut paste cost 600 lire compared to 3,000 lire for pure chocolate.²⁰ Italian workers would slice it and spread it on bread.²¹

But his son turned it into something spreadable. In 1951, Michele Ferrero revolutionized his father’s recipe, making it creamy and spreadable.²² They called it SuperCrema.²³ It flew off the shelves for over a decade.²⁴

But they needed a new name that sounded more modern. In 1964, Michele Ferrero refined the recipe again and rebranded it, combining the word “nut” with the Italian suffix “-ella.”²⁵ That would eventually lead to the creation of Nutella.²⁶

The first jar of Nutella left the Ferrero factory in Alba on April 20, 1964.²⁷ Today, a jar of Nutella is sold every two seconds in over 170 countries.²⁸ Ferrero now uses 25% of the world’s hazelnut crop.²⁹ The company has planted 6.6 million hazelnut trees to secure their supply.³⁰

Which means one of the world’s most popular spreads exists because two separate wars cut off cocoa supplies to Italy, forcing chocolatiers to improvise with local nuts instead. Hazelnuts didn’t just extend chocolate. For brief periods in history, they nearly replaced it entirely.

Sources

1. “Hazelnut Trees Are Easy!” Cornell Small Farms, April 15, 2019. https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2016/10/hazelnut-trees-are-easy/

2. “Hazelnut Trees Are Easy!” Cornell Small Farms, April 15, 2019. https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2016/10/hazelnut-trees-are-easy/

3. “Climate Requirements for Thriving Hazelnut Trees.” Hazelnut Hub, June 14, 2024. https://hazelnuthub.com/climate-requirements-for-thriving-hazelnut-trees-2/

4. “What is Gianduja? (History and Uses).” Dame Cacao, December 14, 2023. https://damecacao.com/gianduja-italian-hazelnut-chocolate-gianduia/

5. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

6. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

7. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

8. “The Italian History Of Nutella (and Gianduja!).” Giadzy, June 2, 2021. https://giadzy.com/blogs/tips/the-italian-history-of-nutella-and-gianduja

9. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

10. Wikipedia contributors. (2025). “Gianduja (chocolate).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianduja_(chocolate)

11. Wikipedia contributors. (2025). “Gianduja (chocolate).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianduja_(chocolate)

12. Wikipedia contributors. (2025). “Gianduja (chocolate).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianduja_(chocolate)

13. “Piedmont’s gold: Why Italian gianduiotto chocolate rules.” CNN, July 8, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/why-italys-gianduiotto-chocolate-rules/index.html

14. “Piedmont’s gold: Why Italian gianduiotto chocolate rules.” CNN, July 8, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/why-italys-gianduiotto-chocolate-rules/index.html

15. “The Story of How Nutella Was Invented: War Rationing Creates Chocolate Gold.” InventorSpot, August 15, 2025. https://inventorspot.com/the-story-of-how-nutella-was-invented-war-rationing-creates-chocolate-gold/

16. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

17. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

18. “From Napoleon to Nutella: The Birth of the Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread.” Harsh Chocolates, April 13, 2024. https://harshchocolates.com/blogs/news/from-napoleon-to-nutella-the-birth-of-the-chocolate-hazelnut-spread

19. “Nutella, a sweet story built from hard times.” Dean Sheremet Substack, August 27, 2024.

Nutella, a sweet story built from hard times

1. “The Unknown History of Nutella: How Pietro Ferrero Built An Empire On Hazelnuts.” History Oasis. https://www.historyoasis.com/post/history-nutella

2. “The Unknown History of Nutella: How Pietro Ferrero Built An Empire On Hazelnuts.” History Oasis. https://www.historyoasis.com/post/history-nutella

3. “The Unknown History of Nutella: How Pietro Ferrero Built An Empire On Hazelnuts.” History Oasis. https://www.historyoasis.com/post/history-nutella

4. “The Unknown History of Nutella: How Pietro Ferrero Built An Empire On Hazelnuts.” History Oasis. https://www.historyoasis.com/post/history-nutella

5. “The Unknown History of Nutella: How Pietro Ferrero Built An Empire On Hazelnuts.” History Oasis. https://www.historyoasis.com/post/history-nutella

6. Wikipedia contributors. (2025). “Gianduja (chocolate).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianduja_(chocolate)

7. “The Complete History of Nutella: How it Became the Largest Continental Breakfast.” StartupTalky, January 20, 2025. https://startuptalky.com/nutella-history/

8. “Why the World Can’t Get Enough of Nutella for 60 Years and Counting.” Thomasnet, March 10, 2025. https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/history-of-nutella/

9. “Why the World Can’t Get Enough of Nutella for 60 Years and Counting.” Thomasnet, March 10, 2025. https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/history-of-nutella/

10. “Hazelnut Trees Are Easy!” Cornell Small Farms, April 15, 2019. https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2016/10/hazelnut-trees-are-easy/

11. “The Complete History of Nutella: How it Became the Largest Continental Breakfast.” StartupTalky, January 20, 2025. https://startuptalky.com/nutella-history/