03 Nov 2011 Ferrero unwrapped: Italy’s secretive confectioner opens its doors
The saletta (little hall) is on the upper floor of a small office block surrounded by manufacturing plants, from which sprout undulating pipes and towering silos. It is here, in the Italian town of Alba, that Willy Wonka meets with his helpers to think up new and delicious treats.
Well, not really the Roald Dahl character, but the nearest thing to him in real life – a silver-haired 86-year-old, even wealthier than Silvio Berlusconi, who founded a company that is now the world’s fourth biggest manufacturer of confectionery. Michele Ferrero, the 32nd richest person on the planet according to Forbes (Berlusconi ranks 118th), shuttles each week by helicopter between his chocolate factory in north-west Italy and his home in Monte Carlo, where he has another saletta for testing recipes.
“We eat all day,” said one of his executives. It involves starting at 8am and working – or munching – till at least 7pm at a table fitted with pull-out spittoons.
Ferrero’s passion for devising sweet temptations has led him to launch more than 20 products since joining his family’s business in 1949. Among them are Ferrero Rocher, the world’s best selling boxed chocolate, Nutella, Tic Tacs and the Kinder range of bars and snacks. For every 100 hazelnuts grown on Earth, 15 end up in a Ferrero product.
Last year, the firm considered, then abandoned, a plan to join the takeover battle for Cadbury, reportedly after Michele overruled his sons, Pietro and Giovanni, the then joint chief executives.
Despite Ferrero’s global presence, it has remained one of the world’s most secretive organisations. It has never held a press conference and its owner, usually seen in public wearing dark glasses, has never given an interview.
This week, however, I and three other journalists became the first to be allowed into the company’s Alba plant where we were able to speak to Ferrero employees on condition that only those from its UK subsidiary be quoted by name.