As noted in the article, Nutella is made with palm oil, whose farming often results in habitat loss for animals such the Bornean orangutan, which is critically endangered. Ferrero claims they have a chain for palm oil such that it doesn’t come from devastating monoculture plantations, but whether that’s enough or even if it’s true at all isn’t my call to make for you. I don’t personally take palm oil as part of my diet as I see it as something I can practicably cut out to reduce harm, but whether this is vegan or just plant-based is something you’ll have to decide.
Ugh, that sounds horrible (there are alternatives that don’t use palm oil already, and they taste great)
As someone out-of-the-loop here, do tell. I was hoping they might be out there, and I might give them a shot if they’re vegan.
They’re made by a local supermarket chain here in Europe, one of their organic brands. They use sunflower oil instead of palm oil, and taste fantastic. Apart from that, just sugar, hazelnuts, cocoa, lecithin and vanilla. Maybe check organic supermarkets in your area?
Do you happen to know the product/ food name? That’d help track local or import options down.
As this is in Europe, I’d mention https://www.valsoia.com/us/products/creamy-hazelnut-cocoa-spread/ which is superior in qualities and has been around for years.
But why chickpeas and rice syrup? There’s lots of vegan hazelnut spreads which taste better than Nutella and don’t need such rather exotic ingredients…
There’s nothing exotic about garbanzo or rice.
Well, here in Germany, chickpea is relatively exotic. And I’ve never seen rice syrup as an ingredient in anything that wasn’t specifically made for vegans.
It just feels like they created a product specifically for the vegan market, which means they’re alienating parts of the non-vegan market. And yeah, I just don’t feel like that’s necessary.
The shelves are full of chickpeas here in Germany, what are you talking about
As I wrote elsewhere already, I’m not saying that it’s not available in stores. I’m saying that a sizeable portion of the population didn’t grow up with it and therefore might not be terribly eager to try it.
This entire comment confuses me.
Here in Germany, chickpea is relatively exotic
I can’t speak to Germany, but at least where I am, chickpeas really aren’t exotic, even to people who really don’t know much of anything about other cultures. (Also, this won’t be in the German market yet; closest is the Belgian one.)
I’ve never seen rice syrup as an ingredient in anything that wasn’t specifically made for vegans.
I’ve never heard of this stereotype of rice syrup being especially prevalent in vegan products. I see rice syrup as a bit exotic, but not in a way that anyone who isn’t vegan but would be willing to buy vegan Nutella would think “well that’s just too out there for me. Syrup? Gross.”
It feels like they created a product specifically for the vegan market
That does seem to be the point of them removing dairy, yes.
which means they’re alienating parts of the non-vegan market
?_? How would this be alienating to someone who’s not vegan would otherwise try it as a vegan alternative? Like say what you want about enormous corporations like Ferrero, but I’m at least reasonably confident they did some market testing for this. The problem this comment is addressing feels extremely manufactured. If it doesn’t appeal to you, that’s one thing, but it feels like you’re overgeneralizing your own niche experience onto everyone else.
How would this be alienating to someone who’s not vegan would otherwise try it as a vegan alternative?
The honest answer might be that the V-word is just off-putting to quite a few omnivores.
it feels like you’re overgeneralizing your own niche experience onto everyone else
To be fair, this is a forum where people express opinions, and opinions tend to be based on personal experience.
In this case I agree with them. In northern Europe at least, there are already vegan Nutella clones that are widely available and tastier than Nutella (which is tasty). For instance Nocciolata, which has a “dairy free” variant, i.e. vegan. Very delicious indeed but also quite expensive.
the V-word is just off-putting to quite a few omnivores.
The discussion was about the ingredients being too exotic, not the labeling, but regarding the labeling, I don’t understand how a vegan product marketed toward vegans by indicating it’s vegan is a bad decision. Nocciolata puts up the label “vegan” too (it’s also palm oil-free, which is cool). Again, I’m sure Ferrero understands what their target audience is for this and have accounted for the extremely close-minded omni demographic.
I’m sure Ferrero understands what their target audience is for this and have accounted for the extremely close-minded omni demographic
Difficult to argue with that.
Hey, though, you’re the first person in this thread to actually mention by name a vegan Nutella alternative that doesn’t use palm oil, so you win first prize. 🏆🥳
I mean, I might very well just be talking of my niche experience. My dad has probably never eaten anything with chickpea in it and is absolutely not interested in trying any new foods.
That also unfortunately includes trying Nutella alternatives. He’s been eating Nutella since the 70s and even though Ferrero has gradually made the recipe worse, he hasn’t noticed enough to want to try something else.
You could probably just as well gradually swap the milkpowder with chickpea + rice syrup and he wouldn’t notice either, but since they’re specifically marketing it as a separate variant, he’s just never going to try it.
Clearly, my dad is a special case. But I just feel in general that many non-vegans will not want to try the vegan variant, because its recipe is so different, whereas they could’ve also created a vegan variant that just doesn’t use milkpowder.
And yes, they will have done some market testing, which is why I’m asking ‘why’. Maybe they can sell the specifically-vegan variant at a higher price. Maybe chickpea and rice syrup are actually really cheap for them to get. Maybe they figured, they should introduce these ingredients to match the original Nutella’s taste as closely as possible, because otherwise people will just by the alternatives. There is probably some reason, I’d just like to know what it is.
I’ve always wondered what Nutella tasted like! My kids love it
It’s sweet but not overly sweet and very rich. It’s like if you took fudge, made it creamier, and spread it on something. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve had it. Because it’s one of those foods that, like bacon, everyone seems to treat as literal perfection as almost a meme, I’m sure it has an air of intrigue to it. Like bacon, I feel, it’s pretty good but unexceptional.
It’s basically chocolate frosting that for some bizarre reason people have convinced themselves is healthy, I guess because there’s a tiny amount of hazelnut in it?
Nutella marketed it as healthy as it contained milk (powder) and hazelnuts. It was never healthy due to the amount of sugar.
It was originally made with hazelnuts to make a cheaper chocolate alternative. But hazelnuts are still expensive so they bulk it with palm oil. It’s basically chocolate mayo now.
I assume this will be more expensive even though it’s made with cheaper ingredients.
