Ferrero changes Nutella, Ferrero Rocher in U.S. market

Ferrero North America is adding peanuts to its Nutella, turning its Ferrero Rocher spheres into squares and adding Dr Pepper flavor to Tic Tacs, all in the hopes of winning over more U.S. consumers.  

The confectioner announced its slate of new products ahead of the annual Sweets and Snacks Expo, which kicks off Monday in Indianapolis. The company plans to display its largest-ever array of new products, like Butterfinger Marshmallow and Crunch White, at the trade event.

Ferrero, which was founded in Italy but is now based in Luxembourg, entered North America nearly a half century ago, but the company only really started investing in the market over the last decade. It has recently brought some of its global brands over to the U.S., like Kinder, the maker of Kinder Buenos and Joy eggs.

Ferrero has also expanded its U.S. business through a series of acquisitions: Fannie May, Brach’s owner Ferrera, Nestle’s U.S. candy business and Halo Top owner Wells Enterprises. The Nestle deal in particular brought Nerds, Butterfinger and Raisinets into Ferrero’s portfolio.

Ferrero has grown to become the third-largest U.S. candy company, trailing only Hershey and Mars, according to Evercore ISI. But to close the gap, it still has a lot of ground to cover. Ferrero Rocher held 2% of the U.S. chocolate market share in the 12 weeks ended April 6, according to the bank, citing Circana data. That’s well below the double-digit share held by Hershey’s namesake candy and Reese’s, as well as Mars’ M&M’s.

“Mr. Ferrero has been very clear: the U.S. is the biggest market in the world, it’s the most important market in the world. We will win in the U.S.,” Michael Lindsey, president and chief business officer of Ferrero North America, told CNBC, referring to the company’s executive chairman, Giovanni Ferrero.

While publicly traded candy companies like Hershey and Mondelez have seen sales struggle in recent months, Ferrero’s U.S. business saw 3.4% dollar growth in the 52 weeks ended April 20, according to the company. Its privately held parent company saw an 8.9% increase in turnover — or revenue — in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, Ferrero disclosed.

Now the company is focusing on organic growth through innovation meant to appeal specifically to U.S. consumers.  

“You do have to Americanize it at some point to get to that next level of love with the American consumer,” Lindsey said. “In a very simple way, our strategy is to take these global power brands, or the recently acquired U.S. power brands, and then introduce an American twist to them that the consumer here hasn’t seen before and hopefully will end up loving.”

Ferrero plans to bring American twists to many of its biggest products.

Its iconic Ferrero…