Is World Nutella Day a public holiday?

No. It is an unofficial fan-founded observance, not a public holiday, so it is a normal working day with no closures or time off.

Did Ferrero create World Nutella Day?

No. A fan, food blogger Sara Rosso, created it in 2007. Ferrero tried to shut it down with a cease-and-desist in 2013, then reversed and took the day over in 2015.

Is World Nutella Day the same as World Chocolate Day?

No. World Nutella Day is February 5 and is about the Nutella spread specifically, while World Chocolate Day is July 7 and covers chocolate in general.

Why is Nutella called Nutella?

The name joins the English word nut to the Italian suffix -ella. Michele Ferrero coined it in 1964 when he reformulated and renamed the earlier Supercrema Gianduja.

How is World Nutella Day celebrated?

Fans cook and bake with Nutella and share recipes and photos online, often using #WorldNutellaDay. The day started as a blogger recipe round-up, and that format still drives it.

World Nutella Day

Next celebratedFriday, February 5, 2027

An international food observance on February 5 celebrating Nutella, the hazelnut and cocoa spread, and the fans who cook, bake, and share it.

See how to celebrate

Countdown to the day

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Last updated February 7, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEFebruary 5

OBSERVED INInternationally

CATEGORYFood

SUBCATEGORYChocolate

ORIGIN

Individual Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY

Sara Rosso

FIRST OBSERVED

2007

“Blogger Sara Rosso launched the day in 2007; Ferrero took it over in 2015.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A fan made the day the company first tried to stop.

World Nutella Day was started in early 2007 by Sara Rosso, an American food blogger living in Italy, as a grassroots fan event rather than a company campaign. The first observance ran in February 2007 and the date settled on February 5 in 2008. In 2013 Ferrero sent Rosso a cease-and-desist over the Nutella trademark, then reversed within days, and Rosso transferred the day to Ferrero in 2015.

Read the founder's accountvia Sara Rosso

INTRO

The fan holiday a chocolate giant tried to shut down

World Nutella Day is the rare brand holiday a company did not invent. A fan did. And for a few strange weeks in 2013, the company that makes Nutella tried to shut it down.

Ferrero's lawyers sent the day's founder a cease-and-desist letter over the Nutella trademark. She announced she would close the website and the social accounts she had run for years. Then fans revolted online, and within days Ferrero backed down, called it a misunderstanding, and thanked her.

Two years later the company owned the holiday outright. It is a useful reminder that the most devoted customers do not always wait for permission. Ferrero now says a jar of Nutella sells every two seconds, which is a measure of how much there was to fight over. This is a day about Nutella the product, not chocolate in general, and it sits on February 5, well clear of World Chocolate Day in July.

DEALS & OFFERS

2026’s deals have wrapped

See who celebrated this year, and browse offers from past years.

Offers wrapped for 2026

World Nutella Day ran on February 5. Here’s who celebrated with offers this year.

2 brands offered a deal this year

Kolache 360°

Krispy Kreme

See past offers

ORIGINS

World Nutella Day history

INTRODUCTION

Nutella was an answer to scarcity before it was a treat. After the Second World War, cocoa was costly and hard to come by in Italy. In the Piedmont town of Alba, a pastry maker had a cheaper local ingredient to lean on.

That maker was Pietro Ferrero, and the ingredient was the hazelnut. He stretched a little chocolate with a lot of ground hazelnut into gianduja, a regional Turin specialty, and shaped the result into a loaf you could slice.

CHAPTER 01

A loaf of paste in postwar Alba

Ferrero began selling that loaf-shaped paste, called Pasta Gianduja, in 1946, the year his company was founded. Children reportedly ate it on bread. In 1951 he turned the loaf into something you could spread, a softer version named Supercrema Gianduja.

CHAPTER 02

How it became Nutella

The name everyone knows came later. In 1964 Pietro's son Michele Ferrero reformulated the recipe and renamed it Nutella, joining the English word nut to the Italian suffix -ella. The spread reached the United States in 1983 but did not catch on with American shoppers until a marketing push in the early 2000s.

CHAPTER 03

A blogger notices a gap

That American gap is where the holiday begins. Sara Rosso, an American food and tech blogger, had moved from California to Italy in 2003 and was struck by how little her friends back home knew the spread. In early 2007 she emailed fellow expat bloggers with an idea: pick a day and post Nutella recipes together. The first event ran that February, and by 2008 the date settled on February 5.

CHAPTER 04

The cease-and-desist and the handover

The event grew from a few hundred bloggers into a worldwide social-media moment, which is roughly when the lawyers arrived. After the 2013 cease-and-desist and Ferrero's quick reversal, Rosso kept running the day with a note that it was not officially Ferrero's. In 2015 she handed the holiday to the company, asking only for a donation to the UN World Food Programme in return.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Pasta Gianduja goes on sale

Pietro Ferrero sells the first loaf-shaped hazelnut and chocolate paste in Alba, Italy, and founds the Ferrero company.

The spread becomes Nutella

Michele Ferrero reformulates and renames the product Nutella, joining the English word nut to the Italian suffix -ella.

Nutella reaches the US

The spread arrives on American shelves but does not catch on widely until a marketing push in the early 2000s.

The first Nutella Day

Sara Rosso and a co-host run the first World Nutella Day as a blogger recipe event while she is living in Italy.

Cease-and-desist, then reversal

Ferrero sends Rosso a cease-and-desist over the trademark, then backs down within days after fan outcry.

Rosso hands the day to Ferrero

Rosso transfers World Nutella Day to Ferrero, which becomes the steward that hosts and promotes it today.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love World Nutella Day

POWER

Fans, not lawyers, decided the holiday would survive.

The 2013 reversal happened because fans, not executives, decided the day was worth keeping. A company learned in real time that its trademark and its goodwill were not the same thing.

AGRICULTURE

It spotlights one product's hazelnut footprint

Ferrero buys roughly a quarter of the world's hazelnut supply for its products, including Nutella. A single spread sits behind a meaningful share of a global crop.

SCALE

It charts how a niche event went mass

By the founder's own account, the day grew from a few hundred bloggers posting recipes into thousands of people sharing on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. It is a small case study in how a single enthusiast can scale a celebration online.

Ferrero considers itself lucky to have such a devoted and loyal fan as Sara Rosso.

FerreroStatement after dropping the 2013 cease-and-desist

I just kind of wished it hadn't happened to begin with. But I'm pleased with how they spoke to me, and they seemed gracious and respectful.

Sara RossoFounder of World Nutella Day

BY THE NUMBERS

World Nutella Day by the Numbers

~170: Countries Nutella is sold in
~50: Hazelnuts in a standard jar
~350,000t: Nutella made per year

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate World Nutella Day

Bake a recipe and post it

The day began as a blogger recipe round-up, so cook something and share it. Folding Nutella into crepes, cookies, or babka keeps the original spirit of February 5 intact.

TAG

Tag your post with the day's hashtag

Ferrero now promotes the day with #WorldNutellaDay across its markets. Adding the tag drops your contribution into the same global feed the founder once watched grow.

READ

Read how the day was nearly lost

Look up the founder's own account of the 2007 start and the 2013 near-shutdown. It is a short, first-person story of how a fan event survived a corporate legal letter.

HOST

Host a simple tasting at home

Set out bread, fruit, and a jar, and compare Nutella against a plain hazelnut spread. A side-by-side makes the hazelnut and cocoa balance easy to notice.

LEARN