In the biggest pot of Nutella

The scrambles and riots in the Intermarché, the criticism of the presence of palm oil, the slinging of nutritionists against what they call "caloric bomb" do not disturb the yields of the production plant. Nutella de Villers-Écalles in the suburbs of Rouen. The transalpine group Ferrero, which has been headquartered in Luxembourg for more than 20 years, set up its flagship in 1960 to manufacture its famous spread. "Every day, we produce between 600,000 and 700,000 pots, or between 2 to 3 pots per second and therefore 120 million per year, which represents 25% of Nutella production in the world," says Michel Etcheberrigaray, the Director General, who has agreed to open the doors of this site employing 530 people (1,300 in the Rouen area including the group's France headquarters, located in another town of the agglomeration, Mont-Saint-Aignan). Of this manufacturing unit, the only one of the Italian multinational in France, "63% of production goes to supply the French market. It is the most important. Nutella is present in 50% of households and 3 out of 4 families. The rest is shared between England, Spain and Benelux. We also produce 2.7 million Kinder Bueno chocolate bars a day (20% of world production) as well as special products for the end of year and Easter holidays ", adds the director.

The recipe [19659003MichelEtcheberrigaraydoesnotwanttoevadeanyquestionEventhosewhoareangry(readmoreoverindetail)"YesweusepalmoilanaturalproductthathasnoequivalenttostabilizetherecipeandthereforeavoidsoxidationovertimeInNutellaontheotherhandthereis0dyeand0preservativeAndtomakeourrecipeweonlyneed7ingredients:13%hazelnuts74%cocoa87%milkpowder20%palmoil50%sugar002%lecithinand048%vanillin"hesaysInhiseyesthequalityandsuccessofhisspreadcomesfromthecontrolofthesupplychain"Wehave4productionlinesfor7differentpotsizesfrom200gto1kgButwhatcharacterizestheprocessofthebranditsstrongpointintermsofproductexpertiseandqualitycontrolisthatwestartfromrawingredientsExampleitimplementscrushednutsroastedandgiveapastecalledthe"manteca"ItsproductionissupervisedbyaninternalsectorinFerrerowhichhasbranchesinTurkeyChileOregonThehazelnutsarefromourplantationsandareprocessedinourfactoriesTheyarriveonourgreensitesanddecocatedDittoforthecocoabeansthatarereceivedwholeWehavetotalcontroloftheindustry"

200 checks every day

Michel Etcheberrigaray also praises the process. "He is healthy. There is no extraction, no chemical. We mix, we grind, we cool, all with tools that we could have in a kitchen. The secret of Nutella is the different stages of heating, mixing and the speed with which the ingredients are used. "There are finally the quality controls," insists the director. In the factory, each pot is first checked with the naked eye. "There is especially every day 200 control operations including 120 for the validation of taste. Some people taste the finished product, others the "manteca" or even the palm oil which is, for the needs of the recipe, totally deodorized. "