Is Nutella nuts?

By adamg on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 7:35pm

For years, our own Boloco has sold a Nutella milkshake. Soon, no more. Seems Big Hazelnut objects to the use of the name, to the point of threatening legal action, so Boloco's now looking for alternative, preferably locally sourced, hazelnut spreads.

Andrew Sellars, a lawyer, explains why Boloco could actually have a case, although he allows as how it's probably not worth all the trouble - and legal fees. Still, he adds:

[W]hen I was in Boloco today (field research!) I couldn't help but see the dozens of jars of Nutella in the back, and thinking about the dozen-or-so other locations around Boston with similar stacks of Nutella jars. Those will be replaced by a competitor's product, in a chain that seems to be growing with each passing month. Not to mention the thousands of Bostonians who have heard about this case and will naturally root for the local guy; you get the feeling that this whole experience is going to leave a bitter taste in their mouths.

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Comments

Imagine

By Anon on Fri, 10/12/2012 - 9:44pm.

Imagine all the money Boloco will save by using a generic that tastes just the same instead of the overpriced Italian import.

of course this won't be

By cybah on Sat, 10/13/2012 - 5:40am.

of course this won't be passed on to the customers. Anyone wanna bet that the price remains the same?

Nope

By anon on Sat, 10/13/2012 - 8:39am.

I doubt the Nutella they are using is the imported kind. The Nutella sold in the US has a very different flavor (US one uses palm oil), and the imported one is hard/expensive to find.

People weren't ordering

By NotWhitey on Sat, 10/13/2012 - 1:36pm.

People weren't ordering Nutella shakes because they love shakes with hazelnuts in them. They were ordering them because they like Nutella. Which do you think was larger - Bocolo's fraction of Nutella's total sales, or Nutella's fraction of Bocolo's total sales?