Ferrero North America is adding peanuts to its peanut butter, turning its Ferrero Rocher Sphers into squares, and adding Pepper Dr Bevery to the TIC TAC, all in hopes of winning more flavor from American consumers.
The Candy Store announced its new offering ahead of the annual Candy and Snack Expo that opened in Indianapolis on Monday. The company plans to showcase its largest new products ever at trade events, such as Butterfinger Marshmallow and Crunch White.
Founded in Italy, Ferrero is now based in Luxembourg and entered North America nearly half a century ago, but the company has only really started investing in the market in the past decade. It has recently brought some of its global brands to the United States, such as Kinder Buenos and the manufacturer of Joy Eggs.
Ferrero has also expanded its U.S. business with a series of acquisitions: Fannie May, Brach’s owner Ferrera, Nestle’s U.S. candy business and Halo’s top owner Wells Enterprises. The Nestlé deal specifically brought nerds, Butterfinger and Raisinets to Ferrero's portfolio.
According to Evercore ISI, Ferrero has grown into the third largest confectionery company in the United States, lagging only behind Hershey and Mars. But to close the gap, it still has a lot to cover. Ferrero Rocher 2% of U.S. chocolate market share for the 12 weeks ended April 6,,,,, According to the bank, Circana data. That's much lower than Hershey's double-digit share of the same name Candy and Reese and Mars' M&M.
"Mr. Ferrero is very clear: the United States is the largest market in the world, it is the most important market in the world. We will win in the United States," Michael Lindsey, president and chief business officer of North America, told CNBC, referring to the company's executive chairman Giovanni Ferrero.
Although publicly traded candy companies like Hershey and Mondelez have seen sales struggles in recent months, Ferrero's U.S. business grew 3.4% in the 52 weeks ending April 20, according to the company. Ferrero revealed that its private parent company had an increase of 8.9% in the fiscal year ending August 31.
Now, the company is committed to organic growth through innovation, aiming to attract American consumers in particular.
“You really have to Americanize it at some point to reach the next love with American consumers,” Lindsey said. “In a very simple way, our strategy is to take these global power brands or recently acquired American power brands and then introduce them to the twists of consumers in the United States that have never seen before and hopefully end up falling in love with them.”
Ferrero plans to bring the US twist to many of its largest products.
Its iconic Ferrero Rocher Candy will be transformed into squares with chocolate shells, hazelnuts and cream fillings. The product will be available in at least five varieties - milk, dark, white, caramel and a wide variety and will be available in September.
Ferrero Rocher isn't the only brand to get a dramatic increase.
Nutella will introduce a new flavor for the first time in sixty years: peanuts and peanuts. Spread mixes classic peanut butter cocoa and hazelnuts with roasted peanuts. Next spring, it will be on grocery shelves.
While the product will be launched in the U.S. for the first time, Lindsey said he has made calls from his international colleagues who are excited about the new flavor.
"I think it will do a really good job and then it will start shipping overseas as soon as possible," he said.
Given existing preferences for peanuts and peanut butter, Lindsay expects peanuts to take a big hit in Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf. According to Lindsey, Saudi Arabia has the highest per capita consumption of peanut butter.
Ferrero is investing $75 million to support peanut manufacturing at its existing Franklin Park, Illinois. The company has also expanded its production facilities in Ontario, Canada to support the production of Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Squares and Nutella Biscuits.
Ferrero also sources hazelnuts from Oregon because it can position its supply chain for nuts, a key element in Nutella and Ferrero Rocher.
Before the Trump administration’s tariffs on dozens of countries, the company’s investment in its North American supply chain was in place, but the timing was accidental.
"This has been going on for years and is part of Mr. Ferrero's long-term strategy when he entered the U.S. market about 10 to 15 years ago. ... Obviously, recent events have made it even more important for us to localize our supply chains," Lindsay said, adding that the company has grown from 300 U.S. employees a decade ago to 300 U.S. employees today.
Ferrero's U.S. investment is not limited to its supply chain. Lindsey said the company plans to start "going big" in marketing its brand.
"In fact, without spoiling too much, you can expect to start meeting us in the world's largest sporting event, starting next year, for example, in February 26, and then in the summer of 26," he said.
After all, America is more than football?