Nutella production halted in Ontario after workers test positive for COVID-19

We can now add Kinder Surprise, Ferrero Rocher and everyone's favourite chocolatey hazelnut spread Nutella to the list of little life luxuries being threatened by COVID-19.

Fererro Canada Ltd. confirmed today that its 900,000-square-foot production plant in Brantford, Ont., has been temporarily closed in light of seven workers testing positive for the deadly coronavirus.

The factory, which serves the Italian confectionery giant's entire North American customer base, closed Tuesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for Ferrero told the Canadian Press that the infected employees all worked in the same part of the factory, and that they hadn't been to work for almost two weeks before getting their test results back.

The Brantford plant has been shuttered, nonetheless, "out of an abundance of caution" for deep cleaning and assessments. Employees will be paid for their time away, according to a spokesperson, and the company will resume operations "when it is appropriate to do so."

It is not yet known how long the shutdown will last or if it will lead to shortages of such Ferrero brands as Tic Tac, Butterfinger, Raisinets and, of course, Nutella.

What we do know is that this plant is Ferrero's largest facility in North America, and the only outside of Europe with its own cocoa processing plant.

For the sake of chocoholics all over the continent, let's hope it reopens soon.