Ferrero Group initiates US$69.6M industrial expansion program in France

FRANCE – Ferrero Group has announced a €60 million (US$69.61M) investment in France at the Choose France Summit, reaffirming its long-term commitment to strengthening its industrial and logistics capabilities in the country.

The announcement was made during the Choose France summit and includes investments in the company’s Villers-Écalles facility in Normandy and the Nieppe factory in Hauts-de-France, which Biscuits Delacre, a Ferrero affiliate, owns.

The investment includes €15 million (US$17.4M) invested in industrial and environmental upgrades at the Villers-Écalles (Normandy) site, €15 million (US$17.4M)  to develop a new 3kg Nutella packaging line for professional channels, alongside  €30 million (US$34.81M) allocated to support the development of Nutella Cookies in a plant in Nieppe (Hauts-de-France), owned by Biscuits Delacre, a Ferrero affiliated company.

A major portion of the funding, totaling €30 million (US$34.81M), has been earmarked for the Villers-Écalles plant in Normandy.

As the world’s largest Nutella production hub, responsible for generating roughly 26% of the global supply of the iconic cocoa-hazelnut spread, the facility serves as a critical node in European grocery supply chains.

Half of this allocation, €15 million (US$17.4M), is directed toward environmental and industrial modernizations. This includes upgrading cleaning-in-place (CIP) routines, optimizing energy and water consumption during processing shifts, and enhancing filling accuracy to minimize product giveaway.

The remaining €15 million (US$17.4M) at the site will establish a dedicated, high-speed packaging line specialized for a bulk 3-kilogram Nutella container, giving the brand an agile distribution route tailored directly to professional foodservice and B2B channels.

The remaining €30 million (US$34.81M) has been allocated to the Nieppe plant in Hauts-de-France, which is operated by Ferrero’s biscuit affiliate, Biscuits Delacre.

This capital will transform the facility into a centralized, unique-in-Europe production hub dedicated exclusively to manufacturing Nutella Cookies.

Integrating bakery-confectionery hybrids presents intricate engineering challenges; therefore, the custom-built line will seamlessly blend high-speed biscuit baking with delicate, temperature-controlled chocolate filling injection.

By leveraging Delacre’s established baking expertise, Ferrero aims to rapidly scale this high-growth product category while limiting exposure to single-site production bottlenecks.

The Nieppe site, which Ferrero acquired from Yildiz in 2016, had previously specialized in producing Delacre-branded biscuits and is now set to diversify with this Nutella-branded cookie.

Alongside manufacturing investments, Ferrero highlighted the completion of two logistics warehouses in Cléon and Barentin, projects that were announced during the Choose France 2025 event.

The latest commitment forms part of a substantial and sustained investment programme in the French market.

Over the past five years, the Ferrero Group has invested €210 million (US$243.85M) in France to strengthen its industrial and logistics capabilities, modernize its sites, and support the growth of its iconic brands.

Present in France for over 60 years, Ferrero continues to develop its industrial and logistics operations with a constant ambition to sustainably strengthen its production capacity, modernize its infrastructure, and support the growth of its brands in the region.

The company said the investments form part of a broader approach focused on strengthening industrial and logistics infrastructure while supporting regional employment and economic development.

Ferrero currently employs 1,400 people in France, with its activities supporting a further 11,300 indirect and induced jobs.

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