Italy's sweet shops run on three names most people outside the country barely connect: a nougat with a 600-year-old rivalry over where it was invented, a chocolate that hides a love note inside the wrapper, and a small hazelnut business from Piedmont that became one of the largest confectionery companies on earth.
Torrone: Italy's oldest sweet rivalry
Torrone's origin is genuinely disputed. One story places its debut at the 1441 wedding banquet of Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti in Cremona, where confectioners shaped a honey-and-almond nougat into the outline of the city's Torrazzo bell tower. The city of Benevento, in the south, makes an equally old and equally unprovable claim. Both towns still treat torrone as a local point of pride.
- Torrone morbido — a softer, chewier nougat, common in the south
- Torrone duro — a firmer, harder-set bar, more typical of the north
- Classic ingredients — honey, sugar, whipped egg white, and toasted almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios
It's a fixture of the Italian Christmas table, sold in everything from supermarket bars to artisan blocks wrapped by hand, and it belongs alongside other chocolate and nut confectionery as one of Europe's oldest surviving sweet recipes.
Baci Perugina: a chocolate with a love note inside
Baci — Italian for "kisses" — was created in 1922 in Perugia by Luisa Spagnoli, co-founder of the Perugina chocolate company. The shape is distinctive: a dome of dark chocolate and crushed hazelnuts built around one whole hazelnut, wrapped in blue-and-silver foil printed with stars. Tucked inside every wrapper is a small paper strip carrying a romantic quote or proverb, a detail that turned a chocolate into a small ritual and helped make Baci one of Italy's best-known gifting chocolates.
Ferrero: from a single Alba shop to a global empire
Pietro Ferrero opened his confectionery business in Alba, in Italy's Piedmont region, in 1946, in the lean years after the Second World War when cocoa was scarce and expensive. Piedmont's hills produce some of the best hazelnuts in Europe, so Ferrero stretched limited chocolate with local hazelnuts to create "Pasta Gianduja" — the direct ancestor of Nutella, which launched under that name in 1964.
- Tic Tac — launched 1969
- Kinder — launched 1968
- Ferrero Rocher — launched 1982, now sold in over 40 countries
- Thorntons — the British chocolatier, acquired by Ferrero in 2015
The company is still family-owned and still headquartered in Piedmont, a rare example of a regional Italian confectioner growing into one of the biggest names in world chocolate without ever leaving home.
Frequently asked questions
What is torrone made of?
Torrone is an Italian nougat made from honey, sugar, egg white and toasted nuts (traditionally almonds or hazelnuts), set into a firm or soft bar and often wrapped in edible rice paper.
What is inside a Baci Perugina chocolate?
Each Baci is a dome of chocolate and crushed hazelnuts wrapped around a whole hazelnut, with a small printed love note tucked inside the silver-and-blue foil wrapper.
Is Ferrero an Italian company?
Yes. Ferrero was founded in 1946 in Alba, Piedmont, by Pietro Ferrero, and the family-owned company still has its roots there while now owning brands including Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac and Thorntons.