German Designer Builds a Lock for Your Nutella Jar

Lay's may have the trademark on that whole “betcha can’t eat just one” line, but the sentiment is just as applicable to Nutella. And by “one,” we mean jar. Whether it's because of thieving cohabitants or your own insatiable cravings, it's the one pantry item that can go from "unopened" to "empty" in what seems like a matter of minutes. Fortunately, German furniture designer Daniel Schobloch has come up with a brilliantly simple solution for your dwindling Nutella supply problem: a lock.

Dubbed the Nutella Lock, Schobloch admits that "the idea started out as a joke. One of my friends was always getting worked up because his children were stealing his Nutella." So, like any good friend with a knack for engineering things, Schobloch built his friend an acrylic lock to place over the lid of his beloved hazelnut spread. It didn't take long for the idea to catch on.

"As the demand continued to grow, we decided to offer the device on ebay," Schobloch tells the Berlin-based The Local. So he manufactured about 1000 more of them—almost all of which sold out immediately. Now Schobloch and company are hard at work on producing more Nutella Locks, which you can pre-order on ebay for €9.99 (about $11). Though the lock comes with two keys, Schobloch warns that the device is meant as a novelty item. "Acrylic is easy to break into," he says.

Still, he sees that there's a real market for the Nutella Lock, so he's patented it in the hopes of bringing it to a wider market. Nutella thieves: Consider yourselves warned.