How journalism gets fat by gorging on vegan Nutella
In case anyone still doesn't know, vegan Nutella is coming. And the main Italian newspapers immediately went crazy, some even wrote about it admitting they hadn't even tasted it. And why does Startma stay away from the buffet? The letter from Claudio Trezzano
Dear director,
I'm a little annoyed.
It's fine that we journalists, given the precarious conditions of our market, are used to starving and tightening our belts, but I would like to know why we are the only editorial team in Italy not to have tried vegan Nutella.
All the newspapers that count in the information panorama of our country talk about it. Google it and judge for yourself. If you had sent me to Alba, to Ferrero , to taste it, you know that I would have more than willingly gone there: better than writing yet another economic article or on the stumbles of online universities (ah, you know that the influencer Maria Rosaria Boccia, who is making the Meloni government tremble due to the cultural passions of Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, did she graduate from Pegaso ?).
Just think, so much has been written about vegan Nutella in the last few hours that Google News even divides the results into two columns: I don't think it had ever happened before and I'm attaching the screen to this email to help you understand the mistake made, given that Startmag is left empty-handed. In the true sense of the expression.
I am consoled – at least in part – by the fact that even my Corriere colleagues have not yet tasted it yet, even if this has not stopped them from talking about it: " Ferrero launches vegan Nutella and the taste tests on social media are positive ". In many years I believe that this is the first case of enthusiasm linked to the taste of a product but having tasted another. In short, someone on social media eats it (who?, when?) and I'm happy about it. And I write about it too.
In fact, Corsera not only dedicated a piece to us, but actually made a video in which it lists the properties of vegan Nutella, taking care to inform the public that it is "suitable for intolerants". The LaPresse agency taken from via Solferino goes further and tries to explain: “Plant-Based Nutella is suitable for intolerants but not for those who are allergic, because it is made where milk is used for other products which will be replaced by ingredients of vegetable origin such as chickpeas and rice syrup.” I'm not sure I understood, but I'm heartened that simonetiktok75 liked it. In fact, his opinion was filmed in the CorriereTV video.
Again the Corriere shortly after prints another important article, this time with an in-depth section: " Plant-Based Nutella, here's how much it costs and where to buy the vegan cream: «It's lactose-free and gluten-free, made with chickpeas and rice » “. Again from the Corriere they make it clear that they have not yet had the opportunity to taste it. But they can't wait to do it. We read on the bolt: “The taste? For the company, "the unmistakable taste and creaminess" of the historic cream are guaranteed. In short, the reviews continue with the taste buds of others, now even those who wrote the press release to launch the product.
From Repubblica , however, they mock their colleagues from via Solferino by shouting from the rooftops that they have seriously tried vegan Nutella (be wary of anyone who writes about it without having done so): " Vegan Nutella, our taste: flavor and creaminess equal to the original “. And here, director, we all breathed a bit of the proverbial sigh of relief because it may have a green cap, but the Nutella still tastes like Nutella. We need fixed points in a man's existence.
“Plant Based Nutella is in every way the same as the original one. Fragrance, consistency and shine are the same. And even when you taste it, it will be difficult to notice any differences. Only the green cap of the vegan version will allow you to distinguish them. Unless you are more expert in Nutella tasting then you might only notice a more nuanced sweetness", they say from the columns of the newspaper founded by Eugenio Scalfari (remember when the good Scalfari was so elitist that he didn't want sports to be written about in his newspaper ? Imagine if he knew that his journalists now taste Nutella).
“To develop the recipe – underlines the Gedi group newspaper -, Ferrero worked for about ten years. Before replacing skimmed milk powder with chickpea flour, other legumes were tried, from lentils to beans. All the experiments were carried out in Alba where the main "nuttellificio" is located".
Open by Enrico Mentana and directed by Franco Bechis also launches into a gourmet… curious investigation: " Vegan Nutella is not yet on sale, except in Naples: how did the (real) jars with green caps arrive in a shop ."
“The smuggling of vegan Nutella has already started – we read in Open -, on the day Ferrero launched the new product on the Italian, Belgian and French markets. And a load of jars destined for France was found partly in a shop overlooking one of the alleys of the historic center of Naples. An absolute preview from the little shop in Naples, which made some customers suspicious and reported the case to the Nas police."
“In the shop in a side street of Piazza Dante, – reports the newspaper founded by Mentana – vegan Nutella was sold at rock bottom prices: 2.60 euros for a 350 gram jar, compared to the 4.49 expected by Ferrero. With the growing anticipation due to curiosity to try the new product, there are those who have thought of a counterfeit. And instead those jars with the green cap were authentic."
Fanpage completes the investigation: " In Naples, vegan Nutella was already on sale and at half price, but it was a stolen shipment ." In this regard it turns out that "it was part of a load stolen in June and destined for France. Around 300 jars ended up under lock and key, with a market value approaching 1,300 euros: they will all be destroyed, also because it is not possible to verify that the conservation regulations have been respected in these two months".
Speaking of Naples, Il Mattino comes out with a chauvinistic piece that is well suited to sovereign times: " Nutella is going vegan: it will be produced in Irpinia ". Il Messaggero also ventures into the territory of the investigation: “ Does vegan Nutella make you fat anyway? The calories, what changes and the “added” ingredient that you don't expect ”.
Director, as you can see we are missing all this, and much more. Il Messaggero always returns to the topic: “ Vegan Nutella, controversy on social media. «Too much sugar and palm oil». «No, it's about time» “. Are you sure you don't want to write an editorial about this?
Il Fatto Quotidiano online, directed by Peter Gomez, who has accustomed us to very different flavors, disappoints: “ Vegan Nutella arrives: “Chickpeas and rice syrup instead of milk”. Here are the comments of those who tried it on TikTok ." A bit bland, right?
The one who is silent at the moment is another journalist (who has long been employed in politics): Matteo Salvini. Although you can see him eating anything at any time of day or night on his social media, I don't think that at the moment the Minister of Infrastructure has yet said what he thinks of this Nutella with the green cap.
Perhaps because he well remembers that in December 1919 when he attacked Ferrero for the presence of "Turkish hazelnuts" he caused an uproar on social media and in the printed press ( Repubblica headlined: Salvini's own goal on Nutella: without Turkish hazelnuts, it can't be done ) which forced him to retract (again Repubblica : “ Salvini takes a step back: “I sweeten the day with a slice of bread and Nutella ”).
It's been since the days when, reading our colleagues in the press, it seemed that the only problem in our country was that Nutella Biscuits – does anyone remember them? – were unobtainable (then a pandemic, an unprecedented economic crisis and two wars on the doorstep of Europe broke out in that order) that I didn't see such greed on the part of the main Italian newspapers regarding a Ferrero product. And today, as then, I wonder why we at Start continue our diet…
Don't you feel your stomach growling? What is that dull, distant noise? Could it be the Order of Journalists that quietly moans about the things that its members send to the page every day for one or two more clicks?
Ah, to know…
Your,
Claudio Trezzano
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/come-ingrassa-il-giornalismo-abbuffandosi-di-nutella-vegana/ on Wed, 04 Sep 2024 13:35:32 +0000.