Nutella a Sign of Sanity in a Crazed World
To cap off a relatively quiet July week in summer, let's turn away from markets to something both salutary and fun. A past post addressed the low-fat/low-salt craze that's now being pooh-poohed by "new" studies. It seems that someone finally woke up to the fact that low salt intake might not only lack benefit, by may indeed be dangerous for some of us. It reminded us of the "discovery" that fat, in and of itself, isn't the terrible scourge portrayed to justify all those "low-fat" products that populate our grocery shelves.
While perhaps not quite crazes - which typically don't last as long as the aforementioned low-fat and low-salt phase - we can only hope that the anti-fat/anti-salt Taliban have now entered their dotage and will someday soon depart these shores, taking their insanity with them, leaving us to eat, drink and be merry once again.
While most crazes strike me as being manifestations of a lack of sanity, or at least an absence of discrimination, discretion and self-control, we find another craze firing up that may in fact signal a breath of fresh air in midst of the insanity of most crazes: the explosive growth of one of Italy's finest products: Nutella.
And that's certainly both salutary as well as fun.
If unfamiliar with Nutella, have some healthy fun and treat yourself this summer. It goes with virtually anything: bread, crackers, fruit, yogurt, ice cream, or just right from the spoon. If you eat a bit too much, just take advantage of the warm, exercise-friendly summer weather and take a brisk walk after ingesting the stuff. Only do go for the gold and not the alternate hazelnut-chocolate spreads. Any difference in cost will be more than justified.
(For some astounding charts on the well-deserved growth of this outstanding product, click HERE.)
While perhaps not quite crazes - which typically don't last as long as the aforementioned low-fat and low-salt phase - we can only hope that the anti-fat/anti-salt Taliban have now entered their dotage and will someday soon depart these shores, taking their insanity with them, leaving us to eat, drink and be merry once again.
While most crazes strike me as being manifestations of a lack of sanity, or at least an absence of discrimination, discretion and self-control, we find another craze firing up that may in fact signal a breath of fresh air in midst of the insanity of most crazes: the explosive growth of one of Italy's finest products: Nutella.
People around the world have been consuming more Nutella than ever. Sales of the spread increased 6.4 percent, to $2.46 billion, in 2013, according to data from market researcher Euromonitor. In the U.S., Nutella sales were up 5.9 percent.While I can't say you will derive any extraordinary health benefits from this great treat, it does contain a substantial slug of the healthy hazelnut, putting it head and shoulders above many of its chocolate competitors. But don't let a dose of hazelnuts fool you into thinking that you're eating some sort "health food." Gobs of Nutella will probably result in your ingesting too much sugar and too many calories. But if you use your common sense here, you can simply focus on the great taste and enjoy a product that represents the Italian genius for concocting flavor combinations that escape most of the rest of the world's culinary cultures. We might go so far as to say that the emergence of Nutella on the world stage signals a hint of sanity in this awfully health-crazed world of ours.
In fact, sales of all chocolate spreads in the U.S. increased 11.9 percent last year, and “Consumers were increasingly drawn to chocolate spreads with hazelnut, specifically Nutella,” according to a Euromonitor report. Nutella, which started out as a somewhat niche product, has grown into a very substantial part of the category, representing nearly 70 percent of U.S. chocolate spread sales.
And that's certainly both salutary as well as fun.
If unfamiliar with Nutella, have some healthy fun and treat yourself this summer. It goes with virtually anything: bread, crackers, fruit, yogurt, ice cream, or just right from the spoon. If you eat a bit too much, just take advantage of the warm, exercise-friendly summer weather and take a brisk walk after ingesting the stuff. Only do go for the gold and not the alternate hazelnut-chocolate spreads. Any difference in cost will be more than justified.
(For some astounding charts on the well-deserved growth of this outstanding product, click HERE.)
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