By Flavia Rotondi and Chiara AlbaneseBloomberg
The last time a Kellogg’s cereal brand ran a Super Bowl commercial, Barack Obama had just taken office as president and Donald Trump was still a reality-TV star.
Much has changed in 17 years – and not least at Kellogg’s. On Feb. 8, it’s set to return to the Big Game with a Raisin Bran ad underwritten by the company’s new owner: Italy’s Ferrero Group, the family-run maker of Nutella that purchased WK Kellogg Co. last year.
Americans can expect to see more from closely held Ferrero – a company best known for its signature cocoa-hazelnut spread, even as its portfolio has swelled to include US brands like Butterfinger, BabyRuth and Keebler cookies.
Low-profile billionaire Giovanni Ferrero has led Italy’s richest family since the 2015 death of his father Michele, who popularized Nutella and transformed Ferrero – started as a pastry shop in the country’s northwest – into one of Europe’s largest candy manufacturers.
Giovanni, 61, has prioritized US acquisitions in a decade-long expansion drive that’s doubled revenue and made Ferrero the world’s third-largest maker of sweet packaged foods. The company spoke to Bloomberg News about its US strategy, capped by the $3.1 billion WK Kellogg deal.
Cereal “has a penetration of more than 90% in US households. Can you imagine how important it is for a consumer goods company to be present in that moment?” Chief Financial Officer Daniel Martinez Carretero said in an interview. “Kellogg’s gives us the door to enter.”
Having fiber-rich Raisin Bran, along with cereals like Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies, bolsters Ferrero’s presence on the breakfast table of US consumers, who have been looking for healthier food choices. While Kellogg’s also makes Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes, the deal helps diversify a lineup dominated by candy, cookies and ice cream, treats even less aligned with wellness trends.
Ferrero sees major opportunities to cross-pollinate – between European and US brands, across food categories, and by leveraging its growing US manufacturing footprint. After buying Wells Enterprises, the maker of Bomb Pop and low-calorie Halo Top ice cream, three years ago, Ferrero spent nearly half a billion dollars renovating a plant in upstate New York, where it’s now producing Nutella and Kinder-branded ice creams.
US consumers can expect “a lot of innovation” from Ferrero’s ice cream and cookie businesses in the next couple of years, Martinez Carretero said.
Marketing is another lever to pull: Ferrero’s Kinder Bueno chocolate bars will make their Super Bowl advertising debut on Sunday, promoting the European candy to a massive US TV audience.
One high-profile move is the imminent launch of Nutella Peanut, a variation of the spread at the heart of Ferrero’s 80-year-old origin story. To craft a version tailored specifically to American tastes, Ferrero added peanut to the original mix of cocoa and hazelnut, borrowing peanut expertise from its Butterfinger brand (acquired with Nestle SA’s US confectionery business in 2018). Nutella Peanut is set to reach US supermarkets in spring.
“The goal is to create a product that becomes a staple in North American households,” Thomas Chatenier, global president of Nutella, said in a separate interview. “Something that you can expect to see on every kitchen shelf across the region.”
Ferrero doesn’t plan to stop there. For now, the company is focused on integrating the operations of WK Kellogg and Wells. Martinez Carretero said Ferrero has “opportunities in most of the categories,” including ice cream, cookies and “Better for You” products like Power Crunch protein snacks, purchased last year. In the future, the company will consider more potential M&A, he said.
Ferrero reported Friday that sales for the fiscal year ended in August rose 4.6% to €19.3 billion ($22.8 billion). Net income was €703.9 million, versus €1.15 billion in fiscal 2024, according to regulatory filings.
The 2025 figures exclude Kellogg’s, acquired in September after the fiscal year-end. The standalone cereal company generated $2.7 billion in revenue in 2024, its last reported year.
The US has become more prominent for Ferrero in the decade since Executive Chairman Giovanni, the grandson of co-founder Pietro Ferrero, set out to lessen the company’s dependence on mature markets like Europe.
Giovanni Ferrero and his family have a net worth of nearly $58 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The company, founded as a pastry shop in 1946 by two brothers in the town of Alba, now sits behind only Cadbury’s owner Mondelez International Inc. and M&M’s maker Mars Inc. in the €630 billion global sweet packaged foods category that includes cookies, ice cream, candy and desserts, Ferrero said, citing GlobalData research.
Fannie May chocolates and Ferrara Candy’s gummies were added in 2017, followed by the Nestle US confection unit and Kellogg Co.’s cookie brands like Keebler and Famous Amos. By 2022, the US, Canada and the Caribbean made up 18% of Ferrero’s revenue, rising to 24% in fiscal 2025.
Kellanova, the former Kellogg Co. snack business that includes Pringles and Pop-Tarts, was split from cereals in 2023 and purchased separately by Mars last year.
Like other global food companies, Ferrero has worked to localize operations, with offices and manufacturing in more than 50 countries. This has insulated it somewhat from President Trump’s tariffs, though not entirely.
“With the new administration we have seen certain volatility, and one example is the tariffs,’’ Martinez Carretero said. “Our agenda hasn’t changed.”
Ferrero, which has about €6.5 billion in debt, has been building its US business at a time when competitors and consumers have pulled back from sugary foods. Those trends are only accelerating with popular obesity drugs and Make America Healthy Again initiatives like phasing out some food dyes.
The Italian company inherits a Kellogg’s business with shrinking sales, battling intense competition, fluctuating commodity prices and an uncertain geopolitical climate, said Morningstar analyst Erin Lash.
WK Kellogg as a standalone had less bargaining power with retailers than General Mills Inc. and Post Holdings Inc., she added.
“The business’s biggest risk has been the plethora of nutritious and convenient breakfast alternatives jockeying for a share of shelf and stomach,” Lash said. “We don’t think these competitive pressures will likely subside, even after eating away at the cereal category for years.”
Choosing Raisin Bran for the Super Bowl ad – rather than Frosted Flakes, promoted in 2009 – is a sign of the company’s response to consumers’ evolving health concerns. Star Trek actor William Shatner, 94, drops in on fans to deliver an irreverent endorsement of Raisin Bran to combat “America’s Fiber Gap.”
Kellogg’s has taken other steps to address Americans’ health kick. Special K now has a version with no added sugar, and the company has promised to remove certain dyes from its products.
Ferrero’s second spot during Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will promote Kinder Bueno, its hazelnut-filled chocolate bars. They’re popular in Italy but not in the US, at least yet.
Kinder Bueno comes in small, individually wrapped portions – something the company sees as ideal for people trying limit their calorie intake.
Despite the headwinds, Ferrero has some breathing room, said Kevin Ryan, chief executive officer of retail consultant Malachite Strategy & Research. The company has a history of buying neglected brands in stable industries, and investing in marketing and also improved quality, he said.
Its private ownership affords the company “a longer timeline” to position Kellogg’s cereals as premium products, while also leaning into protein snacks, Ryan said.
“They can wait. They have a history of waiting,” he said. “Kellogg’s never did.”