Ferrero North America announced on April 24, 2026 the opening of a new Nutella Peanut production line at its existing plant in Franklin Park, Illinois, a Chicago area facility. The investment totals $75 million and creates 50 new jobs. Nutella Peanut is available now at Walmart and other retailers nationwide. The product is described as the Nutella brand’s first-ever new flavor and the first Nutella product manufactured in the United States. Michael Lindsey, President and Chief Business Officer of Ferrero North America, is the primary spokesperson. Melody Richard, Senior Vice President of Pantry at Walmart, is quoted representing the retail partnership.
What Nutella Peanut Is
The press release names the two key ingredients directly: hazelnuts from Oregon and peanuts from Georgia and other Southeast states. That’s a deliberate and commercially significant disclosure. Ferrero is explicitly sourcing both ingredients domestically, which is the story within the story given the current tariff and supply chain environment.
The original Nutella formula is a hazelnut and cocoa spread using hazelnuts primarily sourced from Turkey (the world’s dominant hazelnut producer). Nutella Peanut replaces part of that hazelnut base or extends it with U.S. peanuts, creating a dual-nut spread with a domestic sourcing profile for both core nut ingredients.
No cocoa or sugar sourcing is disclosed in the press release. The full ingredient panel is not included. But the hazelnut and peanut origin disclosures are enough to anchor the sourcing angle clearly.
The Manufacturing Story
The Franklin Park, Illinois plant is where Butterfinger and Baby Ruth have been made since the 1960s. Adding a Nutella Peanut line to that facility means Ferrero is expanding its confectionery nut spread production into a plant with a long confectionery manufacturing heritage, not building from scratch. The $75 million investment is specifically for the new Nutella Peanut production line expansion within the existing footprint.
Ferrero’s broader U.S. manufacturing map disclosed in the press release: Franklin Park and Bloomington, Illinois; Georgia; Kentucky; Ohio; Arizona; Pennsylvania; New Jersey. Plus its first North American Innovation Center and R&D Labs in Chicago. This is a company that has been aggressively building U.S. manufacturing infrastructure through acquisition and investment. The Nutella Peanut production line is the most visible single announcement in that buildout to date because it’s attached to the world’s most recognized hazelnut spread brand.
The “First New Flavor in 60-Plus Years” Significance
Nutella was created in 1964 in Alba, Italy. It has been sold in essentially the same hazelnut and cocoa format for over 60 years across more than 160 countries. No meaningful flavor extension has been launched in that time. Nutella Peanut is the first. That is a CPG brand innovation story with almost no precedent for a product of this global scale and brand recognition. The brand risk is significant: any deviation from the original formula that fails commercially damages one of the most valuable food brand equities in the world. Ferrero’s decision to produce it in the U.S., with domestic hazelnuts and domestic peanuts, is not accidental. It positions the product as an American market innovation first, limiting the brand risk exposure while testing consumer acceptance.
Why It Matters for Hazelnut, Peanut, and Confectionery Fat Suppliers
Ferrero’s $75 million investment in U.S. Nutella Peanut production at the Franklin Park, Illinois plant, sourcing hazelnuts from Oregon and peanuts from Georgia and other Southeast states, creates a new sustained domestic nut procurement program at the world’s largest hazelnut spread manufacturer for a product that carries the most recognized confectionery spread brand in global CPG. For Oregon hazelnut growers and processors, Ferrero’s explicit Oregon sourcing disclosure for the Nutella Peanut hazelnut input is a meaningful confirmation of demand at Nutella production scale. Oregon produces approximately 99% of the U.S. domestic hazelnut supply, and Ferrero is the world’s largest single buyer of hazelnuts globally. A U.S. production line using Oregon hazelnuts creates a direct domestic procurement relationship that has never previously existed for the Nutella brand.
The peanut input sourced from Georgia and Southeast states represents a new procurement channel for U.S. peanut suppliers into the Ferrero confectionery manufacturing program, adding to the demand base for runner and Virginia peanut varieties at the food-grade quality and fat content specification required for a premium blended nut spread application. Peanut spreads require a specific fat content and flavor profile that differs from the roasted peanuts used in snack applications. The grinding, blending, and emulsification requirements for a smooth, shelf-stable nut spread at Nutella’s texture specification require food-grade peanuts processed to a particle size and oil release profile compatible with the existing hazelnut spread matrix. For Georgia and Southeast peanut processors supplying food-grade peanut paste or ground peanut inputs, Ferrero’s Nutella Peanut production line is a new high-value, brand-premium confectionery application.
The Franklin Park production line’s addition of a nut spread manufacturing operation alongside its existing confectionery production for Butterfinger and Baby Ruth creates a multi-format confectionery production campus with simultaneous demand for cocoa butter and vegetable fat inputs (for the original Butterfinger and Baby Ruth lines), peanut paste inputs (for Baby Ruth and now Nutella Peanut), hazelnut paste inputs (for Nutella Peanut), and the sugar and dairy fat inputs that support the full confectionery range produced at the site. For confectionery fat and specialty oil suppliers serving Ferrero’s North American manufacturing network, the Franklin Park expansion increases the facility’s ingredient input complexity and total procurement volume across multiple fat systems simultaneously.
FAQs
What is Nutella Peanut? The first new flavor in Nutella’s history since the brand launched in 1964. A blended nut spread combining hazelnuts sourced from Oregon with peanuts sourced from Georgia and other Southeast states. Available now at Walmart and other retailers nationwide.
Where is it made? Franklin Park, Illinois, at Ferrero’s existing plant where Butterfinger and Baby Ruth have been produced since the 1960s. This is the first Nutella product manufactured in the United States.
How much did the investment cost? $75 million, creating 50 new jobs.
Who was at the launch event? Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, Illinois Representative Norma Hernandez, Franklin Park Mayor Barrett Pedersen, and Walmart representatives including Melody Richard, SVP Pantry.
How big is Ferrero in the U.S.? Ferrero has manufacturing facilities across Franklin Park and Bloomington, Illinois; Georgia; Kentucky; Ohio; Arizona; Pennsylvania; and New Jersey, plus an Innovation Center and R&D Labs in Chicago. It has spent billions acquiring and expanding U.S. operations.
About Source86
Ferrero’s $75 million Nutella Peanut production launch at Franklin Park, Illinois reflects active demand for Oregon hazelnut paste and processed hazelnut inputs at the particle size and fat content specification required for a premium blended nut spread application under the world’s most recognized hazelnut spread brand, food-grade peanut paste and ground peanut inputs from Georgia and Southeast U.S. processors at the oil content and flavor profile required for a smooth, shelf-stable confectionery nut spread formulation, sugar and vegetable fat inputs for nut spread production at Ferrero’s confectionery manufacturing specifications, and the co-located confectionery ingredient inputs supporting Butterfinger and Baby Ruth production alongside the new Nutella Peanut line at the same Franklin Park campus. At Source86, we connect confectionery manufacturers, specialty nut spread producers, and CPG ingredient buyers with trusted bulk and wholesale sourcing partners for hazelnut and peanut paste inputs, food-grade nut processing for confectionery applications, cocoa and confectionery fat systems, and the ingredient sourcing infrastructure that supports premium nut spread and confectionery production at national CPG manufacturing scale.
Whether your production team sources Oregon hazelnut paste for a confectionery spread application, food-grade peanut inputs for a blended nut spread program, or vegetable fat systems for a shelf-stable nut-based confectionery formulation, Source86 is your bridge to the right manufacturing and supply chain partners. Contact Source86 today to start your sourcing search.
