Baci by Perugina turns 90

Nestlé’s Baci, which means ‘kisses’, are dark chocolate and hazelnut pralines that contain quotations inside their individual wrappers. More than 1,500 are produced every minute for sale in Italy and for export to 55 other countries including Australia, Germany and the United States.The brand, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this month, is as popular with consumers today as it was with their grandparents thanks to the innovative ways it takes traditional messages about love and friendship and makes them relevant to contemporary audiences. It has more than one million fans on Facebook and has recently launched a mobile app to allow consumers to exchange digital versions of its famous ‘love notes’. From now until the end of this year, it will be making archive material available on its website and Facebook page to give consumers the chance to connect with its story.

Simple message

“Baci were created in the town of Perugia in Italy by Luisa Spagnoli, one of the founders of the Perugina confectionery company,” said Corrado Castrovillari, business executive manager for Confectionery, Nestlé Italy. “She wanted to use hazelnuts that had been left over from the production of other sweets. “At first the chocolates were called ‘cazzotto’ or ‘punch’ because of their squat shape, but Louisa’s business partner Giovanni Buitoni soon renamed them, saying consumers would prefer to receive a kiss.”

Perugina’s art director Federico Seneca did more to encourage consumers to give Baci as romantic gifts. “It was Federico’s idea to introduce the love notes,” Mr Castrovillari continued. “Later he changed the packaging to a blue and silver box with a picture of a couple kissing underneath a starry sky. “It was an obvious reference to the famous 1859 painting ‘Il bacio’ or ‘The Kiss’ by Italian artist Francesco Hayez.”

Romantic heroes

In 1939, the Perugina company began to sell Baci internationally for the first time, opening a shop on Fifth Avenue in New York in the United States. The chocolates seemed exotic to American consumers at the time because of their hazelnut filling and their association with the passionZapatillas Running Baratas