This is a story about the richest man in Italy, a story about who created the products, taste, names and appearance of which 96% of the population of Russia aged 3 to 50 years know, the story of a talented, successful and truly in love man - Michele Ferrero A biography, a family, a certificate of business, and a couple of little-known facts about this person and his brainchild - you will learn about all this if you read the article.
Briefly about the main thing
Few people do not know a terrific film about an eccentric pastry chef named Willy Wonka and his little friend Charlie. An amazing journey through the chocolate factory, the magical world of sweets and fantasies has been astounding for several decades. Not even the chocolate rivers, caramelized grass or apples from the lollipops enchant many viewers, but Mr. Wonka’s desperate love for his enterprise.
Likewise, the success story of a family of real confectionery magnates hailing from sunny Italy, which began at the beginning of the last century with the name Pietro Ferrero, who inherited a small bakery from his father, cannot but surprise. Years of hard work, unconditional talent, fidelity to the chosen ideals, and also amazing enterprise mixed up with a drop ... bad luck gave the world chocolate and nut paste Nutella, a series of treats for Kinder children, a small celebration named Kinder Surprise, amazing Ferrero Rocher sweets, the most tender Raffaello and Tic Tac.
The secret of success of the great pastry chef
Michele Ferrero is the son of Pietro, who was not afraid of change and transformed his father’s inheritance beyond recognition. Fun by nature, a successful businessman by nature and a real workaholic in life, Pietro quickly won a clientele with delicious sweets. The bestseller in his store was chocolate sticks with nut filling. The famous proverb about how misfortune helps in life played a key role in the life of the Ferrero family.
Once the chocolate sticks melted, but the owner of the confectionery did not get confused, did not throw out the goods that became illiquid, he offered it to his customers in the form of a spread for the freshest buns. This delicacy was so much enjoyed by visitors to the confectionery that Pietro had to put the production of nut pasta on the stream, as Nutella knew the world.
The four years of the existence of the pastry shop forced Pietro to expand his brainchild and open a factory. The case was started in 1942, already in 1949, Michele Ferrero began to help his father, and in 1957 he took over the reins of the company.
An amazing feature of the formation of the Ferrero Corporation was that its creators worked tirelessly on the brand. Pietro established a successful business, he brought his products to the national level, but it was Michele Ferrero who gained international recognition. The success story of his brand is primarily associated with the constant development of new products, on the creation of each of them he worked on average for about two years. During this time, a new product from the company has come a long way from a simple idea to an excellent treat with a unique taste, original appearance, a unique way of serving and a label.
Family matters
Formally founded in 1946, Ferrero is currently one of the largest sweets producers in the world. What started with one enterprise has grown into an international network of factories (16 worldwide). A huge distribution network with offices in Europe, Asia and the USA is engaged in product sales, and 22 thousand employees work for the benefit of the brand.
But, despite such a colossal scale of production and turnover ($ 8 billion a year), the company has remained in the hands of one family for over 60 years. Biography Michele Ferrero (photo presented in the article) is inextricably linked with the company. His personal life is a secret that he took with him to the grave. It is unlikely that there can be found many skeletons. His father Pietro worked all his life at his pastry shop, and his wife helped him a lot. Apparently, the violent Italian temperament helped the business survive even in the most difficult times, and a strong family only connected what was already strong.
Similar constancy was also indicated in the family of Michele Ferrero himself. He was married once, from the marriage he had two sons. His wife Maria Franka, like mother Michele at one time, was a faithful companion for her husband. Petra Ferrero helped her husband Pietro in many ways, she was directly involved in the affairs of the company.
Similarly, Maria Franca became a real muse and support for Michele Ferrero, the biography of this woman is identified with her family and tireless work in a fund based on the funds of the corporation. By the way, corporate support, mutual assistance and care for their employees - this is a feature inherent in the company Ferrero.
The confectionery tycoon died at the age of 89, in 2015, by then he had already managed to hand over his affairs to his sons - Pietro and Giovanni. This happened back in 1997. Sons proved their professional suitability and did not shame their father, showing himself to be excellent businessmen.
The rich cry too
Unfortunately, Michele managed to survive one of his boys. In 2011, his son Pietro died. The Ferrero family was distinguished by some isolation. They devoted themselves entirely to their affairs and relatives, did not give interviews, and therefore they managed to learn about all the events in their lives only from the yellow press.
Pietro crashed while riding a bicycle, while on a business trip to South Africa, no details of this story could be achieved even after a few years. It is known that Michele Ferrero spent the last years of his life in Monaco, his children lived in Belgium.
Pietro Jr. had a family, in the care of a young widow there were three children. Pietro was Michele's eldest son, he led the production unit of the corporation, and Giovanni was responsible for financial matters in the family business. The brothers had equal rights to the company. After his death, Pietro Giovanni took over the reins completely.
In my father's footsteps
Ferrero's success story depends on the people who work for it. Each employee is valuable, and the longer the joint work history of any worker and his employer lasts, the more respectfully the company treats its veteran.
At one time, the staff was counted in units. So, Pietro Ferrero hired six people as his assistants, after years the corporation grew to several tens of thousands of people. By the way, the first plant was opened in the small town of Alba in Italy, to this day every second inhabitant of this settlement is busy at the first production of the corporation.
It is noteworthy that not one of the sons of his father interrupts the family tradition, men from the Ferrero clan are already the third generation in a row loyal to the work of their ancestors, moreover, they tirelessly work on its further development. The heyday came at a time when the company was run by Michele Ferrero. A family photo with him and his relatives is a clear illustration of the fact that while the brand is in the hands of these people, it will delight its fans.
World celebrities
The range of products manufactured by Ferrero is large, but there are top products that are recognized and loved around the world not only by children, but also by their parents:
- Ferrero Rocher sweets are a surprisingly delicate praline coated with chocolate icing and a sprinkle of crushed hazelnuts.
- The company’s sales leader is Nutella chocolate-nut pasta, and many people start their day with a sandwich.
- Refined Raffaello - who doesn’t know this snow-white delicacy consisting of a light cream enveloping an almond nut? All this delicious stuff is in a crispy waffle shell, covered with coconut flakes - the finishing touch of candy.
- The Kinder product line is mainly children's chocolate. According to the creators, it is 42% natural milk. This healthy yummy is especially popular in the form of surprise eggs and chocolate portioned slices.
It is interesting
Throughout its long history, Ferrero has often had to overcome obstacles. The creators raised their brainchild in the difficult post-war time, they came up with products that would be interesting to customers, and created real masterpieces, because even after decades, the sweets Pietro and Michele do not lose their devotion to the sweet tooth. Almost every product has many interesting facts that few people know about.
So, the famous Kinder Surprises is a product that Michele came up with to help mothers distract their kids while shopping at the supermarket. Eggs with toys are not sold in the United States; in accordance with their laws, inedible elements must not be present in foods. In the hottest time of the year, the company stops trading in chocolate figures, because the sweets that have lost their marketable appearance will not add to the brand's popularity. Michele came up with his baby milk chocolate with a high milk content, because he could not stand to drink it in its pure form from the diapers.
Raffaello sweets were created just to defeat the heat, in this dessert there is not a single ingredient that would suffer from too high a temperature in the street. The secret of Nutella has not been reliably disclosed so far, there are many options for fakes, but none of them can be compared with the taste and aroma of the original. Ferrero annually buys a third of the world's total hazelnut crop for its production needs, because this component is the basis of many of the company's products.