Nutella was originally invented as an emergency economic rationing measure because chocolate was far too expensive during the aftermath of World War II.

A closer look

Nutella was originally invented as an emergency economic rationing measure because chocolate was far too expensive during the aftermath of World War II. An Italian pastry maker named Pietro Ferrero desperately needed to stretch his incredibly limited cocoa supply, so he decided to heavily dilute it with an abundance of locally sourced hazelnuts and cheap sugar. What began as a frugal survival tactic to prevent his bakery from going bankrupt quickly evolved into a massive global empire. Today, the Ferrero family is ridiculously wealthy, and they purchase roughly a quarter of the entire global hazelnut supply every single year. It proves that massive economic success often relies on cleverly marketing your desperate cost-cutting measures as a premium luxury