Everyone loves the sweet, chocolaty taste of America’s most popular hazelnut spread: Nutella. Since being imported from Italy to the U.S. in 1983, the chocolate hazelnut spread has been a versatile staple in thousands of homes across the country.

However, within the past few decades, the manufacturing of Nutella has had a detrimental effect on the environment and atmosphere due to the production of one of its main ingredients: palm oil. The process of creating palm oil requires many steps and almost all of them contribute to a few of the most negative effects seen on our planet today. To start off, the acquisition of oil palm, the plant that palm oil comes from, requires intense deforestation of tropical forests. Malaysia and Indonesia are particularly impacted by this process, as together they serve as homes to 90% of oil palm trees and the most biodiverse tropical rainforests on Earth. When palm oil plantations are created, rainforests are destroyed along with many types of animals and plants. This not only brings about habitat loss for animals living in these forests, but it also kills many different species of flora and fauna, including those endangered. Aside from deforestation, the production of palm oil also takes a toll on the atmosphere. When forests are cut down in order to make room to plant oil palms, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. According to the Environmental Defense Fund, tropical deforestation contributes approximately 20% of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Not only is the production of this plant killing wildlife, but it is also contributing majorly to air pollution and climate change. 

These negative impacts are what drove well-known “Stranger Things” actor Noah Schnapp to make a change for the better. In November 2021, Schnapp released his own sustainably-focused hazelnut spread, TBH. While TBH is very similar to Nutella in taste and consistency, it is not made with palm oil. Schnapp’s main goal was to create one of his favorite snack spreads without the ingredient that has such horrible effects on the planet. 

“Hazelnut spread on toast has always been my favorite comfort food, but of course, when I was a kid, I didn’t realize that my snack habit wasn’t very good for me or the environment,” said Schnapp. “Once I found that out, I wanted to create a new take on hazelnut cocoa spread with honesty and sustainability at its heart.”

Not only is Schnapp’s brand helping to make a difference in the environment, but it is also helping to raise awareness about the effects that some of our favorite products can have on the planet. Being aware of the ingredients that our everyday products contain is becoming more and more crucial to the Earth than it has ever been before. Purchasing products that are made of environmentally friendly materials and ingredients is extremely important; these seemingly insignificant contributions can have a greater impact on every aspect of the environment than one may think.