It seems we’ve been pronouncing this iconic brand’s name wrong for the past six decades, and people still haven’t taken the hint despite the key letter being in bold
It seems that we’ve been pronouncing it one of the UK’s most popular food product wrong. Nutella, the world-renowned chocolate spread, is a staple in many UK households and the cherry on top for many desserts. After all these years, you’d be surprised to know you’ve been pronouncing its name wrong for years.
Nutella got invented in the 1960s in Italy, and since then, it has become a worldwide sweet treat enjoyed by millions. Its name is a blend of the word ‘nut’ and ‘ella’, which means ‘sweet’. Interestingly, the word ‘nut’ in bold reads as ‘noot’ or ‘new’ in its native language, Italian.
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The chocolate spread is considered popular in the UK, especially as the go-to breakfast spread and baking ingredient. Supermarkets stock the product in various sizes, but surprisingly, the chocolate spread isn’t as popular as it is in other European countries. According to EWFM, France is the largest consumer of Nutella, over 25 per cent of the world ’s Nutella gets consumed and produced in the country itself.
For the past 61 years of spreading smiles, many fans assumed that the hazelnut-chocolate brand got as pronounced as it appeared on the jar: ‘Nut-ell-uh’, right? Well, it turns out that we’ve been saying it wrong this entire time, but Ferrero has now cleared up the confusion around its pronunciation.
A total of 88% of Brits admitted to mispronouncing the brand, reports Wales Online. Not everyone knows that the correct pronunciation is ‘NOU-tell-uh’, not ‘NUT-ella’, as the Italian brand expands.
To make things even more confusing, the packaging features the word in bold letters, which is a design that confuses English speakers into mispronouncing it. This method works in Europe, but it creates a genuine funny pronunciation mistake for English-speaking countries.
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Jack Bird, branding expert for Add People, the SME Digital Marketing agency, said: “The confusion lies in the brand’s international roots – a problem many brands face when expanding from an SME to a global product.”
But don’t feel too ashamed about misspronouncing it, as the brand itself has used the incorrect pronunciation over the years through their adverts.
James Steward, Marketing Director for Nutella, Ferrero UK & Ireland, also confirmed its correct pronunciation in 2021, saying: “As Nutella is enjoyed in every corner of the world, there have long been some fun debates on how it should be pronounced.”
So the debate has been closed, it’s ‘NOU-tell-uh ’, not ‘NUT’ella’. Don’t get it wrong next time you do your groceries!