Vegan Nutella: We Just Tried It, Here’s What It’s Like

Nutella Plant Based, Vegan (and gluten free) Nutellahas finally become reality, after several months of anticipation. It arrives in stores, with its little jar with a green lidand it is the novelty of the season, confirming the fact that Nutella is one of the most loved Italian products from large9gh8 distribution ever. The biscuits had demonstrated this, becoming an object of desire unobtainable on supermarket shelves. And then, a few months ago, ice cream, the super novelty of the summer.

Now the time has come for vegan Nutella, announced some time ago and now revealed, just in time for the celebrations for the sixtieth birthday of the spreadable cream most famous in the world.

A product that – Ferrero informs – aims to further strengthen the brand’s presence at the time of the first sweet breakfast. It is a market3 worth 5.9 billion euros4, of which the main categories are cookies (33.3%), hot snacks (26.2%) and spreadable creams (8.5%). The latter is a growing category (+4.3%), in which Ferrero is the leader thanks to Nutella. In this context, plant-based spreadable creams today represent a market in strong growth, especially in the short term (+31%) and with an overall value of around 30 million euros.

The ingredients

The recipe changes very little from the original one, and simply replaces the milk with ingredients of vegetal origin, such as chickpeas and rice syrup. A significant change, in commercial terms, if you consider that in this way Nutella is meeting the needs not only of vegans but also for people who are lactose intolerant.

From the nutritional point of view, vegan Nutella presents itself as a slightly lighter alternative to traditional Nutella. 534 kcal per 100 grams of product (against the 539 of classic Nutella), 45.4 grams of sugar (against 56.3). Not much, in fact, but there are those who will feel more relieved to make a small concession to their gluttony.

Tasting: What Vegan Nutella Is Like

If it weren’t for the green cap, when you open it, it looks exactly like classic Nutella. You can recognize it in that full and creamy consistency into which you sink the spoon, and also in the way it fills it, with the trickle of chocolate that goes back down towards the jar, prey to a delicious force of gravity.

In short, the challenge is to find some difference with the classic Nutella with milk. Even when tasting, the taste is absolutely identical to the one that all children remember. Nutella plant based, with its ingredients of vegetal origin, does not seem to change the result on the palate by a comma. Usual creaminess, usual persistence, same iconic flavor that has made this product famous. Making a comparison with classic Nutella, perhaps you notice a slightly (but really, the difference is almost imperceptible) less sweet taste, but this could also be an advantage for some consumers.

In short, the experiment seems to have been successful: Even vegans and lactose intolerant people will have their Nutella from today. Without giving up anything compared to other consumers.