Nutella is a massive brand with millions of jars sold on an annual basis around the world. That small jar brings so much delight to everybody that dips into it, but few are aware of the way in which the product itself actually came to fruition.

To understand its origins, we need to head back to World War II, which was the time of rations. An Italian pastry maker was getting rather fed up of what amounted to rather meagre chocolate rations, and he wanted to do anything possible in order to extend it as far as he could. Ultimately, it led to him adding in some hazelnuts, as it was probably the only thing that he had lying around that made any kind of sense.

In other words, if it wasn’t for rations during the war, Nutella would have never existed, at least not in the form that we all love. Perhaps there is at least one thing that we should be grateful for after all.