When life puts us to the test, that's where we want to take refuge: in the nest where everything began, where we learned to live. Where we return when the world outside becomes too much. This is what emerges from the new research conducted by Nestlé on 1,200 Italians, accompanied by an anthropological analysis by Marta Villa (cultural anthropologist, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento), which explores the symbolic and cultural value of the nest.

The nursery is the first place where the family's emotional culture is learned, relationships are built and a sense of belonging is developed. - For 86% of Italians, it is a place of protection and care, both physical and emotional. - 83% associate it with the transmission of values such as security, tenderness, loving kindness. - 59% believe it has had a decisive impact on their identity. - For over 8 out of 10 Italians, the habits learned in the nursery continue to guide their life choices every day. "In the nursery, we grow as individuals and as a community. It is the place of emotional and symbolic transmission, where the foundations of identity are built", comments Villa .

It is no coincidence that the Nestlé logo, since its birth in 1866, has depicted a nest with a bird feeding its young: a symbol of care, first nourishment, continuity and affection. And it is precisely in the nest that, for many, taste and sensory memories are also formed. - 53% of Italians recognize a deep bond with the nest through food. - For 6 out of 10 Italians, the taste of childhood is also a life lesson: it is at the table that the deepest values are transmitted. - One in 4 Italians preserves the flavor of their roots on the family plate.
“We eat as the generations before us taught us,” observes Villa . “In the nursery we learn to eat, but also to love, to speak, to tell stories.”

The nest is also the place to which we return in difficult times. - More than 1 in 2 Italians have sought refuge in their nest in difficult times, confirming its strength as a space for rebirth. - 52% continue to consider it an emotional refuge and a springboard for independence. “We are welcomed into the nest as soon as we are born, but we also return there as adults,” Villa emphasizes. “It is a refuge, a womb, a point of transformation. It is where we grow, where we return wounded or tired, but also where words, stories, and roots are born.”

21% of Italian adults still live in their home nursery by choice, not just out of necessity. Only 20% perceive it as a limiting environment. The nursery should therefore be reinterpreted in light of a cultural value: not mere dependence, but emotional continuity, a sense of belonging. “The nursery is often seen as a place of return, but for many it is also a choice of stability, intimacy and roots,” explains Villa . “It is the place where one prepares for flight. But also the point from which one is reborn. Always.”

“He who leaves the nest learns to fly”, “Every bird loves its nest”: sayings, but also cultural truths. The nest is present in literature, in films (such as the recent “FolleMente”), in advertisements, in emotional narratives. It is not just a home: it is a symbol. “It contains within itself the promise of the future”, concludes Villa . “Because in the nest we are always reborn”. For more than 150 years, the Nestlé logo has depicted a nest, not just an image but also a mission for every phase of our life: nourishing the future, preserving memory. And in the nest, past and future coexist, protect each other, pass each other on. Just as happens in the simplest gestures: a hug, a word, a shared meal.