News on Nutella

Don't we all love Nutella? I am sure this speaks to all the Nutella lovers out there (starting with myself), but today I found an interesting piece that reveals all the countries that contribute to a single jar of Nutella. I have talked about food trade and how much energy is lost (and emissions released) with transporting our food all over the globe. But have a look at this: 

'Even though Ferrero International, which makes the stuff, is headquartered in Italy, it has factories in Europe, Russia, North America and South America. And while certain inputs are supplied locally—like, say, the plastic for the bottles or milk—many others are shipped from all over the world. The hazelnuts are from Turkey; the palm oil is from Malaysia; the cocoa is from Nigeria; the sugar is from either Brazil or Europe; and the vanilla flavoring is from France.'

(Source: http://www.howmanyarethere.net)

Seems like Nutella has the world covered and is a good example of popular foor products consumed today. Nutella has become a truly global product but let us look at the other side: can you imagine the emission toll behind one jar of Nutella? Not to mention 20% of it is palm oil from Malaysia. Ferrero International is now proudly part of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and is committed to 100% sustainable palm oil. Ferrero is actually one of the few companies that Greenpeace sees as going beyond RSPO and achieving its goals. But as Greenpeace says, RSPO is falling short in protecting rain forests and promoting truly sustainable palm oil. In fact, RSPO specifically protects primary forests, which can have different definitions in different contexts (the age or thickness of the forest). Neither is RSPO successful in effectively preventing peat destruction and carbon release in the process of introducing new plantations. Greenpeace is encouraging companies to go beyond RSPO in order to ensure sustainable palm oil supply. 

Here is the Nutella map of the world:

(Source: http://qz.com)

Just something I thought was worth sharing here and show the background of one popular food products in the world. Hope you will think about it next time you pick up a Nutella jar or make your Sunday night Nutella sandwich! 

Till next time,

Laura