Is Nutella real chocolate?

Not quite. Nutella is not chocolate, nor does it contain chocolate, but it does contain cocoa powder. It’s a spreadable confection with a cocoa/chocolate flavour.

In the early 19th Century, gianduja was invented in Northern Italy. Cacao beans have always been a relatively expensive ingredient. At the time in Italy, cacao was becoming more difficult to get and more expensive, and so making chocolate was a challenge. However, hazelnuts grew plentiful (and were much cheaper) than cacao beans, and so they were ground into the chocolate mixture, and gianduja was invented. Gianduja is a type of chocolate which includes hazelnuts (cocoa beans, hazelnuts, and sugar) ground up together. Traditionally gianduja has been made with hazelnuts, but today chocolate makers are using other types of nuts such as almonds, cashews, and even pine nuts to make other types of giandujas.

Nutella is said to be a spreadable form of gianduja, and was invented in Italy by Ferrero in 1963. However, Nutella today is not really chocolate, as it is not made by grinding up cocoa beans and hazelnuts to make a more traditional gianduja. The fat in Nutella is palm kernel oil. Therefore, Nutella is a spread made from a mixture of palm kernel oil, milk powder, sugar, hazelnuts, cocoa powder, and flavour enhancers. It’s more like a frosting, than it is chocolate. It has the essence of gianduja in flavour, but is not actually a gianduja. Below are some hazelnut and other nut gianduja bars sold here at Bean To Bar World. They are made with a few simple, real ingredients (including real cocoa butter, fine cacao beans), without no palm kernel oil, synthesized flavour enhancers, or copious amounts of sugar.