The “father” of Nutella dies at 89

Michele Ferrero, the world’s richest confectionery maker whose Nutella chocolate and hazelnut spread helped raise generations of Italians and define Italian sweets, has died, officials said. He was 89.

Pietro Ferrero opened his first chocolate laboratory in Alba, in Italy's northwest Piemonte region, in 1942. The business passed to Michele upon Pietro's death in 1949.

Michele Ferrero developed Kinder chocolates in 1968, Tic Tacs a year later and Ferrero Rocher in 1982, according to a biography provided by the company. Eventually, Ferrero intruced the Ferrero Rocher chocolates in Europe and by 1985 began selling them in the United States, according to the company's website. (Sárközy Júlia, MTI)