Kinder Surprise

История Kinder Surprise – это история об итальянском жизнелюбии и безграничной верности своему делу. Она рассказывает о том, что для достижения успеха нужно не только много и самоотверженно работать, но и не забывать оглядываться вокруг в поисках вдохновенья и свежих идей. Именно таким принципам и следовал Микеле Ферреро – человек, создавший одно из самым популярных лакомств не только детей, но и взрослых — Kinder Surprise.

However, talking about the appearance of a chocolate egg with a surprise, you need to start with the story of Michele's father - Pietro Ferrero. It is he who is the founder of the well-known company Ferrero, which gave the world Nutella pasta, Raffaello sweets and Tick-Tock dragees. Pietro began to prepare various confectionery products in the early 40s in a small family bakery, and in this he was helped by his wife Pier and brother Giovanni. Persistent experiments with the ingredients paid off, and one day rumors about Ferrero's sweets spread throughout Italy. In 1946, the first Ferrero factory opens in Alba, and 10 years after that, the company enters the international level and opens representative offices in other European countries.

Ferrero products enjoyed unusually great success, but this did not prevent Pietro Ferrero from painfully experiencing the slightest setbacks of the company. Excessive unrest for the fate of his offspring and became the cause of his premature death. In 1949, the factory was almost washed away by a severe flood. And although the consequences of the raging elements were eliminated in a matter of time, the heart of the founder of the company could not stand the experience.

After the death of Pietro, his brother Giovanni took over the reins of Ferrero. But the hot Italian blood played a bad joke again. In 1955, the company found itself in a highly competitive environment. For a long time, Giovanni fought for a "place in the sun" with other entrepreneurs who worked along the same lines as Ferrero, selling similar products. Giovanni, in the end, managed to defeat them, but prolonged stress so undermined his health that a couple of months after the enemy was defeated, Giovanni Ferrero died.

В результате столь трагических событий семейное дело перешло к 24-летнему Микеле Ферреро, которому в силу своей молодости удалось вдохнуть в шоколадный бизнес новую жизнь. И одним из придуманных им новшеств оказался именно Kinder Surprise. Кстати, молодому итальянцу даже не пришлось долго ломать голову над своим изобретением. Дело в  том, что сама идея сюрприза внутри сладости не нова. Итальянцы традиционно пекли на Пасху для своих детей пирожные в виде яиц, внутрь которых клали сюрприз — игрушку или монетку.

Так и начались работы над созданием Kinder Surprise — одной из любимейших сегодня детских сладостей. «Яйца с сюрпризом» изготавливались из шоколада серии Kinder, который отличался повышенным содержанием молока. Внутри прослойки из молочного и белого шоколада скрывалась желтая капсула, по форме напоминавшая яичный желток. В капсулу же вкладывалась миниатюрная игрушка. Кстати, подобное строение Киндер-Сюрприза тут же было закреплено соответствующими патентами.

As for miniature toys that would fit inside the capsules, Michele turned to the Swiss designer Henry Roth for help in creating them. It is he who is behind most of the funny figures, which later hid inside Kinder Surprise chocolate sweets.

The first "surprise eggs" saw the world in 1972. And they were sold out in just an hour from the moment they first appeared on the shelves. So suddenly the beginning of a real mania was laid, which instantly swept the whole world. Admirers of goodies were also found among adults who readily rushed to collect unusual toys. Even today, many rare miniature figurines are priced in excess of thousands of dollars. A collection of 90,000 Kinder Surprise toys was sold on e-Bay in 2007 for 30,000 euros.

Over the following years, Ferrero produced Kinder Surprises both with molded plastic toys and with various prefabricated options. But perhaps the most interesting and unusual are the series of iron figurines. The first were metal cowboys and Indians, designed by Henry Roth in 1974. They were followed by figurines of ballerinas, then - sea pirates and just representatives of different professions. Each new thematic collection was released every year and invariably delighted collectors and just admirers of Kinder Surprise.

Michele, meanwhile, showed himself not only as a competent leader of a multi-million dollar company, but also as a devoted family man. When his sons were born, he named them Pietro and Giovanni - in honor of his father and uncle, who once founded the Ferrero company and were devoted to her until the last breath.

It was the younger Pietro who took over the reins of business when Michele decided to retire. However, in 2011, a 49-year-old Italian died of a heart attack while on a business trip to South Africa. After the death of his son, 85-year-old Michele Ferrero, the richest man in Italy and the owner of a fortune of $ 17 billion, again stood at the helm of his company and does not intend to leave his post anymore.