Free Republic

SNIP “Five or 10 years from now, I don’t think we will be milking cows anymore, realistically," the 35-year-old farmer said. "Financially we are fine, but I have four young children who I don't spend nearly enough time with." Jereczek is trying to build a bridge to the future even as he crosses it. He has planted more than 1,000 hazelnut trees on 3 acres previously used to grow hay — a small piece of the farm that someday could pay off well if the perennial crop takes hold. Worldwide, Turkey and Italy dominate the hazelnut industry. Domestically, Oregon has...

Social media videos show shoppers battling for jars of the spreadSNIP Chaotic scenes were filmed in several supermarkets across the country operated by the Intermarche chain, which offered massive discounts on pots of Nutella. The promotion, launched on Thursday, reduced the price of more than a million 950-gram pots from 4.70 euros ($5.85) to 1.41 ($1.75). In one video posted on Twitter, customers are seen shoving each other and shouting as they try to get as many pots as possible. According to Le Parisien newspaper, shoppers started to fight in the northern town of Ostricourt, prompting police to step in....

A discount on Nutella has led to violent scenes in a chain of French supermarkets, as shoppers jostled to grab a bargain on the sweet spread. Intermarché supermarkets offered a 70% discount on Nutella, bringing the price down from €4.50 (£3.90) to €1.40. But police were called when people began fighting and pushing one another They are like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady took a box on her head, another had a bloody hand," one customer told French media. A member of staff at one Intermarché shop in central France told the regional newspaper Le...

The $44 billion palm oil industry, under pressure in Europe after authorities listed the edible oil as a cancer risk, has found a vocal ally in the food sector: the maker of Nutella. Italian confectionery firm Ferrero has taken a public stand in defense of an ingredient that some other food companies in the country are boycotting. It has launched an advertising campaign to assure the public about the safety of Nutella, its flagship product which makes up about a fifth of its sales

The man who did it was finally arrested, and as it was revealed he started the fires as a protest over the shelter running out of Nutella at the food buffet during Ramadan: It was at noon on the 7th of June, when suddenly a hundred meters high smoke column over Dusseldorf had to be seen. The prosecutor’s office is convinced: The two men have fired fire in the former exhibition hall, which was used as refugee shelter.“The trigger was a dispute about the food in Ramadan ” , said Dr. Martina Reinartz, spokesperson of the District Court Dusseldorf. 26...

In Australia, one is able to purchase a personalized label for a jar of Nutella, the popular chocolate and hazelnut spread. Unless, apparently, someone is trying to purchase a label for a person named Isis. A woman in Australia found this out the hard way, when she was told that she would not be allowed to purchase a personalized jar for her five-year-old niece, Isis Taylor. Her niece was named after the Egyptian goddess, and was born years before the creation of the Islamic State. Despite pleas to Ferrero Australia to please reconsider and print the label, the company stood...

A Burbank man faces more than 11 years in state prison if convicted in connection with allegations that he punched a 78-year-old Costco shopper following a dispute over a Nutella waffle sample. ... The incident occurred Sunday morning at the Costco located at 1051 W. Burbank Blvd. The punch left the victim with with facial swelling and a significant cut above the left eye, Losacco said. He victim was transported to a local hospital by Burbank paramedics, and he was treated for his injuries and released.

A French judge spared a baby girl from being named Nutella – changing her name to Ella instead to save her from a lifetime of teasing. “The name ‘Nutella’ given to the child is the trade name of a spread,” the court ruled, according to a La Voix Du Nord. “And it is contrary to the child’s interest to have a name that can only lead to teasing or disparaging thoughts.” The parents wanted to name the girl after the popular chocolate spread, but the judge said that the name was not in the interest of the baby girl, who...

Members of the Islamic State and their sympathizers have also tweeted about their love for Disney movies and Robin Williams. The posts are part of a social media campaign meant to point out the humane side of the terrorist group that ruthlessly executed an American journalist earlier this week.Apparently the coldblooded terrorists who savagely beheaded a kidnapped American journalist have a sweet tooth. In an attempt to seem friendly and humane, Islamic State militants — the terrorist group that executed James Foley earlier this week — and their supporters have posted images of themselves holding jars of Nutella. The bizarre,...

Ever since I heard about Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread that originated in between-World Wars Italy, IÂ’ve been a fan. In mid-1980s America, it was hard to find. Not every supermarket carried it. Obtaining it was a quest, and luck helped. I had to ration it. And no one can prove that I used to hide it when visitors came over. A lot of foods have cult followings, and demand for Nutella has resulted in its becoming nearly ubiquitous. As it celebrates the spreadÂ’s 50th year, maker Ferrero Rocher reportedly sells about a half-billion pounds across more than 70 countries. Spring...

America's favorite hazelnut spread Nutella is wrapping up its 50th anniversary celebrations with a star-studded creation from famed pastry chef Dominique Ansel. The Cronut creator has made Nutella-stuffed Cronut holes to mark the end of three days of celebrations around the globe - kicking it off with a street party on Saturday in Alba - the hometown of Nutella's creator.

A group, labelled the "Nutella gang" for stealing 2,500 jars of the chocolate spread, have been jailed for 15 years and six months. A court in Fulda, Hesse, jailed three men from Hesse and two women for theft and receiving stolen goods on Friday. A 37-year-old man was jailed for six-and-a-half years, his accomplice, also 37 for five years and three months and the third man, 35, for three years and nine months. The two women were given suspended jail sentences of six months and nine months. The gang earned their nickname after being caught by police in May 2013...

This has all the makings of a tempest in a Nutella jar, which may not be as appealing as a Nutella milkshake, Nutella fudge or Nutella-stuffed French toast. Or stolen Nutella, which, apparently, has mouthwatering appeal at Columbia University. Last month one of Columbia’s undergraduate dining halls began serving Nutella every day, not just in crepes on weekends. For the uninitiated, Nutella is a creamier-than-peanut-butter, chocolate hazelnut spread from Italy that a college student might eat a whole jar of in a single sitting when the pressure is on. The problem was that the Columbia students went through jars and...

Italian chocolate tycoon Pietro Ferrero, the joint chief executive of the group that owns Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, has died in a cycling accident in South Africa, a company spokesman said.Mr Ferrero, who was 47, fell from his bicycle during a regular riding session, probably because he was taken ill, while on a business trip in South Africa, the spokesman said, voicing the group's "deep dismay". Ferrero had co-run the sweets company with his younger brother Giovanni since 1997. Their 85-year-old father Michele, who turned the firm into a global leader of the confectionery industry after taking over in 1957,...