Nutella launches its vegan version: lactose-free cream spread

It is the first time in its 60-year history that Nutella changes its appearance and offers the market a variant of the product. Ferrero launches Nutella® Plant-Based, the latest addition to the Nutella® family: the hazelnut and chocolate spread made only with ingredients of vegetable origin.

The year of celebrations for the 60th birthday of Nutella® confirms itself as a period full of novelties for one of the most iconic products of the Family Ferrero and after the launch of Nutella® in ice cream version, a new spread recipe arrives on the market targeting those consumers who want only plant-based or lactose-free foods.

The new recipe is made with ingredients of vegetable origin as an alternative to milk such as chickpeas and rice syrup, Ferrero therefore opens up to the reality of the 'flexitarian diet', embraced by some 12.5 million Italians who have chosen to favour foods of vegetable origin, moderating their consumption of foods of animal origin. Like Nutella®, Nutella® Plant-Based is gluten-free and is certified by the Vegetarian Society as 'Vegan Approved'.

The design of the Nutella® Plant-Based production line started in January 2023 and the first industrial productions took place in June, some 18 months after the start of work. It will be distributed in the mass retail channel in Italy, France and Belgium in the 350g format, to arrive in other European markets in 2025.

Thanks to the new line, Ferrero is aiming to strengthen its presence in the sweet breakfast segment, a market3 worth 5.9 billion euros characterised by biscuits (33.3%), hot snacks (26.2%) and spreadable creams (8.5%), a category that is growing by 4.3% in which Ferrero is the leader thanks to its historical product. Plant-based spreads represent a new market trend, growing strongly, especially in the short term (+31%9), and with a total value of around €30 million.