Shoppers in France have been fighting each other to buy the hazelnut spread Nutella. A nationwide chain of supermarkets cut the price of it by 70 per cent. The supermarket started a promotion on the jars on Thursday. The cost was cut from €4.50 to €1.41. There were long queues outside stores. Inside, shoppers lost their cool in the aisles. A witness described the chaos. She told French newspapers: "They fought like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady had a cardboard box put on her head, and another woman had a bloody hand. It was terrible."
An Italian company called Ferrero makes Nutella. It said it had nothing to do with the discount. It tweeted that only the supermarket decided to cut prices. It criticized what happened, saying the discount, "created confusion and disappointment among customers". The supermarket did not comment. However, an employee said: "It was crazy…like it was the first day of sales. People just rushed in, shoving everyone and breaking things….It was like a riot." A tweeter said Nutella is very important in France. She said: "French people eat it by the spoonful."