Pietro Ferrero (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjɛːtro ferˈrɛːro]; 2 September 1898 – 2 March 1949) was the founder of Ferrero SpA, an Italian confectionery and chocolatier company.^[1] His company invented Nutella, a hazelnut-cream spread, which is now sold in over 160 countries. Ferrero Rochers are also made by his company, Ferrero, as are Tic Tacs and the Kinder chocolate brand.^[2]

Ferrero was born on 2 September 1898 in Farigliano, a municipality in the Piedmontese Langhe, and was the eldest son of Michele Ferrero and Clara Devalle. He had a younger brother, Giovanni. The Ferreros were known for their hard work ethic. After marrying Piera Cillario, they moved to Alba, eventually settling in Turin.

In 1940, Pietro opened a large pastry shop in Turin in via Sant'Anselmo, but this adventure ended badly and he returned to Alba where he opened a new shop.

In 1942, Pietro Ferrero opened a laboratory in Alba in via Rattazzi to make sweets and he spent a lot of time there in the conception of innovative but cheap sweet products. In the midst of World War II, the idea of using hazelnuts, widely used in Ferrero recipes, and widely available on site, was a necessity to exploit low-cost raw materials. In Turin, Pietro often watched the workers go to work, and had begun to think of a sweet alternative that could replace bread and tomatoes, this is how he invented a chocolate and hazelnut paste, which had to be substantial but at the same time affordable. This desire becomes a mission for Pietro, which leads him to work non-stop and even at night to try different doughs and find the ideal recipe; his wife Piera is also involved in the project; he had to taste everything and give an objective opinion. Subsequently, however, applying a well-thought-out formula will prove to be a brilliant idea. Meanwhile, in Alba, word spreads that the laboratory is looking for manpower: five or six workers no more, but in a city where in the immediate post-war period the only hiring is that of a municipal street sweeper, this is a great opportunity.

In 1946, after four years of attempts, Pietro launched a hazelnut-based cream on the market and initially called it Pasta Gianduja and then Giandujot, associating it phonetically with the famous Piedmontese carnival mask. It was a mixture of cream packaged in aluminium foil that could be easily transported, cut and spread on bread, designed precisely for the workers who went to work. He produced a small quantity, to be sold to the shopkeepers of Alba. The cream was a huge success on the part of consumers, even among the youngest, an audience that Piero had not initially considered, instead, it turned out to be a cheap dessert for children's snacks and gluttony. A kilo of this specialty cost 600 lire against 3,000 lire for a kilo of chocolate. In February 1946, the production is three quintals and at the end of the year it reaches over a thousand; the employees rise to about fifty to reach a hundred the following year. The demand for the product increased so much that artisanal production alone was no longer possible. Together with his wife, Piera Cillario, Pietro founded the company "Ferrero". To meet the demand, production had to be increased and new workers hired. The first factory was built on land purchased a few years earlier in Alba, in via Vivaro (where the Foundation stands today).

On 14 May 1946, complete with the deed of incorporation at the Chamber of Commerce, the Ferrero industry was officially born. Pietro also involves his brother Giovanni to whom he entrusts the organization of sales and the creation of a direct distribution network between the factory and the buyers.^[3] It is in this context that twenty-year-old Michele, Pietro's son, begins to collaborate with his father.

In September 1948, a flood from the Tanaro floods the Alba factory, which remains isolated. The company's employees, also to protect their jobs, are working to restore normality and resume production. They work for four days but they make it and at the end of the month the factory is back to business as before.

On March 2, 1949, Pietro Ferrero died, perhaps suffering from a heart attack, exhausted, it is said, by the frenetic distribution activity that he personally carried out, driving his Topolino through the streets of Piedmont. His wife and brother, later Michele, take over the management of the company.^[4] The management of the company remains family-run and Giovanni Ferrero, Pietro's younger brother, expands the sale and distribution of his products, directly from the factory to the retailer, with specific vans.^[5]

In 1924, Pietro married Piera Cillario. On 26 April 1925, his only child Michele Ferrero was born in Dogliani.