Chris Hariski, manager of the recently opened Nutella Café at the Metcalfe Street Sobeys, prepares a Nutella-filled crepe. Anna Carroll, Centretown News Canada’s second, and Ottawa’s first, Sobeys Urban Fresh Nutella Café has opened inside the Sobeys grocery store on Metcalfe Street. The café is solely focused on serving pastries and desserts in which the featured ingredient is Nutella, the chocolate hazelnut spread with a loyal — and ever-growing — fanbase.
The café opened on Sept. 8 and — according to store operator Doug Hatoum — has received a warm welcome from local shoppers. “People are excited, they’re loving the brand, and there’s been lots of good feedback,” Hatoum said.
Among the treats being offered are bombe, aragosta, zeppole and pizelle, croissants, danishes, fresh crêpes and waffles, yogurt parfaits and fruit skewers.
The Nutella Café in Toronto became Canada’s first when it opened in November 2015. Toronto store operator Doug Ermel said one reason Nutella is so popular is because it evokes memories of a favourite childhood snack.
He added that it’s a safe alternative for those who can’t eat peanut butter due to allergies.
Nutella Café Ottawa customer Lauren Peng agreed that this is part of the allure of the Café. “Most places I’ve been to that serve fresh crêpes and waffles are sit-down restaurants. I like that this is quick and easy.”
The popular spread has done something millions of other food products have not by migrating from its spot on the grocery shelf to a showcase place in a popular Canadian restaurant — Tim Hortons — and now a major grocery chain.
According to Ermel, Canada has more Nutella-themed cafés, with two in Toronto and one in Ottawa, than any other country in the world — and given Tim Hortons’ recently introduced baked-goods line featuring the official Nutella brand, it’s clear that Canadians are going nuts for the chocolate spread.
Tim Hortons started selling Nutella doughnuts, pastries and bagel spread in participating stores across Canada in April 2015. The one-month promotion was so successful across its 3,000-plus Canadian stores that the coffee shop brought back the Nutella partnership this past March.
Tim Hortons president and CEO Marc Caira told the Financial Post in 2014 that the company was committed to continuously offering new menu items. Nutella was included in the menu makeover along with the chain’s new dark roast coffee.
“We have a responsibility to our customers to continue to evolve,” Caira said at the time.
Nutella was created in 1964 by Italian pastry maker Pietro Ferrero when there was a shortage of cocoa supplies following World War II. Pietro’s son eventually improved the recipe, coined the term “Nutella”, and transformed his father’s company, now called The Ferrero Group, into an international company.
Today, the multinational company is widely known for its Ferrero Rocher and Kinder chocolates, as well as Tic Tacs and Nutella. It is the number one user of hazelnuts in the world, according to a 2014 BBC report. It produces Nutella in 11 factories worldwide, and a whopping 364 million kilograms of Nutella were consumed in 160 countries around the world in 2013.
While each of these Ferrero products is a household name in North America, Nutella has its own massive following.
There are Twitter accounts, Internet memes, and a World Nutella Day all dedicated to celebrating the chocolate hazelnut spread.
The Ottawa Nutella Café has already established its online presence as customers are sharing photos of their decadent Nutella-filled desserts on social media with the hashtag “nutellaxsobeys”.