Consumers have fought to buy this well-loved spread cheaply, but in Turkey, hazelnut farmers are complaining of exploitation and meagre pay. Meanwhile, health authorities are questioning the brand’s nutritional value, even as other companies fight to compete in the market.

Here are five things to know about the world’s favourite spread.

1. Ethic and exploitation

Farmers in leading hazelnut exporter Turkey accuse Italy’s Ferrero confectionery, which churns out Nutella, of abusing its near monopoly to force down prices.

In April 2019, the “New York Times” revealed harsh labour conditions for Syrian refugees who could barely survive on their pay from harvesting hazelnuts. Six months later, the BBC ran a story showing Kurdish children picking hazelnuts.

Ferrero, which purchases about a third of Turkey’s production, mainly through intermediaries, insisted that it did not use produce “made with unethical practices”. The group also cited in defence its training programme for farmers.

By last year, Ferrero said it could trace the origin of 44% of its Turkish hazelnuts and hoped to reach 100% in 2023 despite the pandemic.

2. Health benefits?

European health authorities are not impressed by the nutritional value of Nutella. It’s more than 50% sugar, 30% fat – mostly palm oil – 13% hazelnuts and just 10% chocolate.

The palm oil industry is also accused of deforestation. In 2015, then French environment minister Segolene Royal had to apologise after angering Ferrero with a call to stop eating Nutella to protect the forests.

The group has boasted for several years about topping the World Wildlife Fund’s palm oil buyer’s scorecard for a responsible industry.

Ferrero alone uses nearly 200,000 tonnes of palm oil annually, accounting for 0.3% of global production.

3. World Nutella Day

World Nutella Day falls on Feb 5 and the brand still accounts for more than 50% of world sales for chocolate spreads, says Euromonitor International.

In January 2018, when customers fought to get their hands on cut-price jars of Nutella in French supermarkets, the story made world headlines.

Intermarche ended up paying €375,000 euros (RM1.8 million at current exchange rates) in fines for the loss-leader promotion.

Giovanni Ferrero, who inherited the empire that bears his surname, sits at 40th place on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, with a fortune of more than US$35 billion (RM145 billion).

The Ferrero group reported turnover of US$15 billion last year, but does not reveal how much of that comes from chocolate spreads.

4. Confectionery competition

Milka, Nestle, Barilla, Nocciolata, Bonne Maman… a multitude of players try to compete with Nutella for a share of the growing market for spreads.

New products come out every year around the globe and have slightly eaten into Ferrero’s dominance, Euromonitor International and sector analysts say.

Such competitors count on a variety of recipes from vegan to gluten- or palm-oil free, but often charge a higher price; and sales of organic products have climbed every year recently.

5. Peanuts rule

The world consumes more than 300,000 tonnes of Nutella a year – a figure that is often, bizarrely, compared to the similar weight of New York’s Empire State Building.

But that pales in comparison to another stateside spread rival. The United States uses more than 630,000 tonnes of peanut butter a year, according to the American Peanut Council.

So it seems hazelnuts are not about to replace peanuts – in American spreads, at least.