Ferrero’s new Kinder Kinderini biscuits, frollini cookies with milk and cocoa, are produced in Italy at the Balvano plant in the province of Potenza, the same location where Nutella Biscuits were born. Thanks to Ferrero, this small town in Lucania is taking on an increasingly strategic role, becoming a new “hub” for Italian biscuits. The new biscuits will be added to the production of Nutella Biscuits and the historic production of Kinder and Ferrero snacks, and will be destined for both the Italian and international markets. The Group has invested over 50 million euros in creating the production line, which took more than 7 years from design to completion.
After the design phase, the production line, despite its complexity, took only 3 months to assemble, from the arrival of the machinery at the plant to the first production tests. This construction project involved hundreds of workers. The construction of the production line from scratch confirmed Ferrero’s commitment not only to creating excellent and innovative products, but also to consolidating its presence in Italy and creating value for the industry, the territory, and the communities in which it operates. “This product will contribute to the growth of our relationship with consumers,” says Alessandro d’Este, CEO and President of Ferrero Italia Commercial, during the product launch in Milan. “We have goals. I can say that I believe we will consume over 300 million biscuits in the first year, almost 5 biscuits per person.”
The new production line has created over 120 new jobs on a seasonal basis, in addition to recent permanent hires. The Kinder Kinderini line, entirely designed and built internally by Ferrero, spans two floors and measures about one kilometer. It is characterized by state-of-the-art machinery and the use of advanced computer technologies to oversee the overlapping phases of dough, cooking, decoration, and packaging.
“The Balvano plant has become very large and we will continue to expand it,” emphasizes d’Este. “It is a plant with a production capacity of over 400,000 quintals and is a fundamental hub for Ferrero, not only nationally but internationally. We export Nutella Biscuits worldwide, the product has become global, and we will do the same for Kinderini.”
It takes about 100 minutes to create each Kinder Kinderini biscuit, from preparing the dough to decorating the eyes and mouth, to packaging. To create the different expressions with maximum precision and pass rigorous quality controls, multiple and sophisticated “intelligent” vision systems have been installed. During the packaging phase, there is also a robotic system that ensures a wide variety of expressions inside each package. The result is a biscuit that perfectly balances tradition and innovation, in true Ferrero style.