The Italian Candy Company Behind 20+ Popular Brands In The Grocery Aisle

It all started at a small pastry shop in Alba, Italy in the late 1940s, when two brothers, Pietro and Giovanni Ferrero, began to think outside of the box. Today, what they started has grown into a multi-national company with a slew of popular brands found on your grocery store aisles. You may recognize the name from its flagship Ferrero Rocher chocolates, a decadent chocolate and hazelnut treat, and one of the European chocolate brands you should know. But that wasn't the company's first milestone.

Back in 1964, the family introduced Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread. Then, four years later, Michele Ferrero, the son of Pietro, created the Kinder brand. Then came Tic-Tac, before Michele created Ferrero Rocher in 1982. When Ferrero acquired the Italian-American company with a similar name, the Ferrara Candy Company, in 2017, it gained even more famous names in the candy world.

Ferrara was founded in Chicago in 1908 and is the brand that introduced such classics as Red Hots, Atomic Fireballs, and Lemonhead candies. Among Ferrara's portfolio of 20 brands are also SweeTarts, Nerds, and Jelly Belly beans (which were U.S. President Ronald Reagan's favorite snack). Ferrara, which is still based in Illinois, is a standalone unit of its Italian parent company. And it isn't the only company Ferrero Group has acquired over the years.

Besides all the brands already mentioned, the Ferrero Group has owned Nestlé's U.S. confectionery business since 2018. This means famous candy bars such as Butterfinger, Baby Ruth, and 100 Grand are now under the Ferrero Group umbrella. Beyond the candy business, it's responsible for many products located on other store aisles, including the freezer section. In 2022, Ferrero Group bought Wells Enterprises, which is behind the Blue Bunny, Blue Ribbon Classics, Halo Top, and Bomb Pop ice cream brands, and is also responsible for Walmart's Great Value ice creams.

The Ferrero Group's latest acquisition takes us to the cereal aisle. In September 2025, the company bought WK Kellogg Co., which first produced its iconic Corn Flakes cereal in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1894. That means Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran, Rice Krispies, Special K, Fruit Loops, and Kashi, among others, are Ferrero Group products. Keebler, those bakery products famously featuring elves, is also one of its brands. As you can see, this Italian company, which began as a small post-war pastry shop, has come a long way and is only getting bigger.