The first version of Nutella was a solid loaf that people sliced with a knife.

Pietro Ferrero created the original recipe in 1946 in Italy. He called it Pasta Gianduja. It contained about 50% hazelnut paste and 20% cocoa. The rest was sugar and cocoa butter. Cocoa butter stays solid at room temperature, which made the loaf firm.This solid shape was easy to transport and did not need expensive glass jars. In 1951, Pietro's son Michele wanted to make the product easier to use. He created a new version called Supercrema. He replaced some cocoa butter with vegetable oils.Vegetable oils have a lower melting point than cocoa butter. This change made the mixture soft enough to spread even when it was cool. This new spreadable version eventually became the Nutella sold in jars today. The change helped the product become popular in colder countries where solid chocolate is often too hard to bite.