Melburnians have succumbed to the Nutella craze which has swept Australia.
The chocolate and hazelnut spread is appearing in various products in numerous cafes across the city, with the most popular being the Nutella doughnut dubbed “Donutella”.
It rose to fame in the Thomastown café Mick’s Place, but was the best kept secret of 30-year-old Reservoir bakery, Il Forno Ciabattaria, which supplies the café with them.
Owner Carlo Capello says his bakery uses a substantial amount of the product to keep up with the demand.
“It would be [roughly] in excess of 500kg a week,” he told the City Journal.
“We’re pretty generous with the Nutella,” he said.
The increasingly popular “Donatella”.
Photo credit: Jenny Downing via Flickr
The increased popularity of the Donutella and other Nutella pastries caused a recent national shortage of the product.
A new shipment from Italy is set to arrive on August 7, according to Ferrero Australia.
Brunetti staff member, Courtney Sheridan, believes the spread is in a class of its own and can be eaten at every occasion.
“It is [so] versatile,” she said.
“You can have it with anything and it still tastes good.”
Cheaper alternatives to the product are readily available, but Nutella continues to fly off the shelves.
Self-confessed Nutella addict, Belinda Colosimo-Minniti, says the love for the product is universal, but admits Melburnians are band wagoners.
“Melbourne trends spread like wildfire – as soon as people heard about Mick’s Nutella doughnuts they lost their minds,” she said.
Ms Colosimo-Minniti said eating the spread is an experience.
“[There’s] just something about Nutella,” she said. “It is good hot and cold or straight from the jar.
“It’s a crowd-pleaser, everyone loves it and it can’t be recreated.”
The online publication Mental Floss reports one jar of Nutella is sold every 2.5 seconds, beating the number of babies born per minute by a factor of three.
