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Kit Kat

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Original Kit Kat (USA)
Original Kit Kat (USA)
For other items called Kit Kat or Kit Cat see Kit Kat (disambiguation).

A Kit Kat bar is a confection originally created by Rowntree Limited of York, England and now made by Nestlé, which acquired Rowntree in 1988. It consists of thick bars composed of three layers of creme-filled wafer, covered in an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger can be snapped from the bar one at a time.

History

The traditional four finger version of this chocolate bar was originally launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp (price: 2d). The two finger version was launched May 15, 1936. Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937, and subsequently just Kit Kat after World War II. The name is believed to have come from the Kit-Cat Club, an 18th Century Whig literary club founded in the reign of James II and located at Christopher Catling ("Kit Cat")'s pie-house in Shire Lane, by Temple Bar. A meeting place of the Kit-Cat Club had such low ceilings that paintings hung inside needed to be especially short. Such paintings were later named after the club as 'Kit Kats', as was a type of mutton pie. The Oxford English Dictionary (1989) writes:

Kit-cat / kit-kat. {f. Kit (= Christopher) Cat or Catling, the keeper of the pie-house in Shire Lane, by Temple Bar, where the club originally met.}

The traditional bar has four fingers which each measure approximately 1cm by 12 cm. Kit Kat Chunky has one large finger approximately 2.5 cm wide and was introduced in 1999. Kit Kat bars contain varying numbers of fingers depending on the market, ranging from the half-finger sized Kit Kat Petit in Japan to the three-fingered variants in Arabia to the twelve-finger Kit Kat Tablet bars in France. Kit Kat bars are sold either individually or in bags, boxes or multipacks. In countries such as the UK and Canada, Nestlé also produces a Kit Kat ice cream.

Global confection

The Kit Kat has been manufactured in a number of localised versions for overseas markets such as Canada, Germany, Japan, and Australia. Kit Kat bars available in the United States are manufactured under license by The Hershey Company, a Nestlé competitor, due to a prior licensing agreement with Rowntree.

The Kit Kat is the world's #2 chocolate bar after the Mars bar. In the UK, Kit Kat is the number one brand both as a confectionery item and as a biscuit. In both the US and Canada, the Kit Kat is also extremely popular and is one of the top five candy bar brands. In recent years, Kit Kats have also become very popular in Japan, a phenomenon attributed to the coincidental similarity between the bar's name and the Japanese phrase kitto katsu, roughly translating as "I hope you succeed!" This has reportedly led to parents and children buying them for school examination days as a sort of good luck charm. [1] However, transliteration is not always in Nestlé's favour - "kitto katto" (where 'katto' is taken to be a katakana transliteration of the English verb 'cut') is understood to bestow Kit Kat with the less positive significance of "you will definitely miss the cut". As such, gifts of a single kit-kat are a running joke for senior high school students taking the University Entrance Examinations in some areas. Further building on the teen market, Nestlé created a music label in 2005 and bundled Kit Kats with CDs which has propelled the Kit Kat to become the #1 selling chocolate bar in Japan as well. [2]

The year 2003 was a turning point for the Kit Kat bar as well as the confectionery industry in general. The popularity of low carb diets and the push to healthier eating stifled sales growth in many parts of the world. In addition, fierce competition from Cadbury's newly formed Dairy Milk superbrand also contributed to sales of the Kit Kat decreasing considerably in its home market of the UK and threatening to dethrone it from its #1 position.[3][4] The solution adopted by Nestlé and others was to dramatically increase the number of new and unique variations of their confections and market them as limited or special editions whereby they would usually only be available for a few months at a time so as not to impact the sales of their permanent edition counterparts. [5] The strategy reversed the decline of the Kit Kat [6]and has been adopted worldwide by Nestlé, Hershey, Mars and others with similar success. [7][8] This has resulted in many new flavors and varieties of the Kit Kat and other confections appearing globally since then with the trend likely to continue.

Events in late 2005 may point to further changes ahead for the Kit Kat. Chris White, the managing director of Nestlé Rowntree abruptly left his job amid controversy that his marketing strategies may in fact have had a negative impact on Kit Kat and confection sales in the long term. [9] Also, a disagreement over pension fees has Nestlé Rowntree threatening to move all UK production of Kit Kats and Smarties to the Czech Republic.[10]

Kit Kat varieties

Many varieties of Kit Kat have existed, either temporarily or permanently:

Standard finger bars: mini single fingers (petits or miniatures), two finger mini bars, four (or three) finger standard bars, bonus and "king size" bars (five to eight fingers):

  • Kit Kat Original — (different taste & texture in different countries)
  • Kit Kat Extra Creamy — US limited edition — Original with extra creamy milk chocolate
  • Kit Kat Dark Chocolate — UK, Canada, China permanent edition, Japan, US miniatures and limited edition
  • Kit Kat Fine Dark — Germany variant of Kit Kat Dark Chocolate
  • Kit Kat Dark Luxury — Malaysia limited edition
  • Kit Kat Bitter — Japan limited edition — bitter dark chocolate coating with 62% cocoa content
  • Kit Kat Mild Bitter — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat White Chocolate — UK, US, China permanent edition, Australia, Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat White with Hokkaido Milk — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat White Bretagne — Japan limited edition — white chocolate coating made with Bretagne milk and cocoa butter from Ecuador
  • Kit Kat Milky White — Germany variant of Kit Kat White Chocolate
  • Kit Kat Mint — UK permanent edition, US limited edition — mint flavored milk chocolate coating
  • Kit Kat Mint Chill — Australia limited edition — similar to Kit Kat Mint but also with white mint creme in the wafers - meant to be eaten chilled
  • Kit Kat Midnight Mint — UK limited edition — dark chocolate version of Kit Kat Mint
  • Kit Kat Mint Rush — Australia limited edition — same as Kit Kat Midnight Mint
  • Kit Kat Apple — Japan — sold only in Nagano Prefecture
  • Kit Kat Banana — Japan, Canada limited edition
  • Kit Kat Blueberry — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Cherry — US limited edition — "Valentine mini" bars with Cherry flavored white chocolate coating
  • Kit Kat Sakura (Cherry Blossom) — Japan limited edition — Sakura flower flavored pink white chocolate coating and creme filling
  • Kit Kat Double Berry — Japan limited edition — mixed blueberry and strawberry flavored creme filling
  • Kit Kat Fruit Parfait — Japan limited edition — strawberry striped white chocolate with freeze dried bits from five fruits and strawberry creme filling in the wafers
  • Kit Kat Grape — Japan limited edition — mini bars with grape flavored creme
  • Kit Kat Lemon Cheesecake — Japan, Malaysia limited edition
  • Kit Kat White Lemon and Yogurt — UK, Germany limited edition — nearly identical to Lemon Cheesecake Kit Kat
  • Kit Kat Luscious Lime — UK limited edition
  • Kit Kat Mango — Japan Limited edition mini bars
  • Kit Kat Yubari Melon — Japan — melon flavored creme in the wafer
  • Kit Kat Hokkaido Yubari Melon — Japan — like above but also with creamy melon flavored coating instead of milk chocolate
  • Kit Kat Orange — UK permanent edition, US, Canada, Japan, Malaysia limited edition.
  • Kit Kat Blood Orange — UK, Germany limited edition
  • Kit Kat Orange & Creme — US limited edition — orange and creme flavored coating
  • Kit Kat Passion fruit — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Pineapple — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Summer Pine — South Africa limited edition version of Kit Kat Pineapple
  • Kit Kat Strawberry — Japan, Canada and UK limited edition
  • Kit Kat Strawberries & Cream — UK limited edition mini bar multipack
  • Kit Kat Strawberry & Yogurt — Germany limited edition — yogurt white chocolate coating, strawberry creme filling in the wafers
  • Kit Kat Ichigo (Strawberry) Milk — Japan limited edition — creamy strawberry milk coating and creme filling in the wafers
  • Kit Kat Tsubu² Strawberry — Japan limited edition — strawberry coating with freeze dried strawberry pieces and strawberry creme filling in the wafers
  • Kit Kat An Nin Dofu (Almond tofu) — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Azuki — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Café Latte with Hokkaido Milk — Japan
  • Kit Kat Cappuccino — Australia, Malaysia limited edition
  • Kit Kat Caramac — UK
  • Kit Kat Christmas pudding — UK limited edition mini bar multipack
  • Kit Kat White Winter zimt (cinnamon) — Germany limited edition
  • Kit Kat Coffee — US, Canada limited edition
  • Kit Kat Chocolatier Noir (Dark) — Japan limited edition — dark petits with almond creme filling and dusted dark cocoa powder on outside
  • Kit Kat Exotic Hokkaido — Japan limited editon — Hokkaido cheese white chocolate coating, blueberry & passionfruit creme filling in the wafers
  • Kit Kat Exotic Tokyo — Japan limited edition — mixed berry and passion fruit creme filling in the wafers
  • Kit Kat Gold — Japan — petits with fudge like covering and dusted cocoa powder on outside
  • Kit Kat Matcha (Green tea) — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Halloween — US limited edition — mini bars with orange colored white chocolate coating, chocolate wafers and chocolate creme filling
  • Kit Kat Noisette (Hazelnut) — Germany
  • Kit Kat Inside Out — US limited edition — White Chocolate outside, chocolate creme filling and chocolate wafers
  • Kit Kat Kir — Japan limited edition — dark petits with kir creme filling
  • Kit Kat White with Maple Syrup — Japan limited edition — White chocolate coating blended with Canadian (Quebec) maple syrup
  • Kit Kat MilkShake — US limited edition — extra creamy malt milk chocolate coating
  • Kit Kat Triple Chocolate — US limited edition — Milk Chocolate outside, chocolate creme filling and chocolate wafers
  • Kit Kat Uji-Kintoki Milk — Japan limited edition — Azuki bean, Green Tea, and Cream MULTI-FLAVOR (Kakigori)
  • Kit Kat Vanilla — Canada and UK limited edition
  • Kit Kat Chocolatier Wine — Japan limited edition — petits with red wine colored white chocolate and wine flavored creme filling
  • Kit Kat Wish Upon A Star — Japan limited edition — issued to commemorate 5th anniversary of Universal Studios Japan
  • Kit Kat Xtra Chocolate — Canada limited edition — similar to Kit Kat Triple Chocolate
  • Kit Kat Yoghurt — Japan limited edition mini bars
  • Kit Kat Carb Alternatives — US — low carb version with 50% less sugar carbs
  • Kit Kat Low Carb — UK
File:KitKat chunky.jpg
KitKat Chunky

Large single finger Chunky bars

  • Kit Kat Chunky — UK, Canada, everywhere besides US & Japan
  • Kit Kat Big Kat — Japan & Hershey US version of Chunky
  • Kit Kat Big Kat White Chocolate — US limited edition
  • Kit Kat Big Break — UK — extra large Chunky bar
  • Kit Kat Chunky M.A.X. (Maximum Appetite Xcitement) — Canada — another extra large Chunky bar
  • Kit Kat Chunky White — hugely popular, limited or permanent edition in many different countries
  • Kit Kat Editions Red Berry — UK limited edition — Chunky with cranberry, strawberry and raspberry filling
  • Kit Kat Chunky Cinnamon — Canada limited edition — Chunky with cinnamon flavored milk chocolate coating
  • Kit Kat Editions Mango and Passionfruit — UK limited edition— Chunky with mango and passionfruit filling
  • Kit Kat Orange Chunky — UK limited edition
  • Kit Kat Editions Seville Orange — UK limited edition — Chunky with seville orange filling
  • Kit Kat Chunky Caramel — Canada, Australia and UK
  • Kit Kat Editions Golden Caramel — UK — same as Chunky Caramel
  • Kit Kat Editions Caramel Dream — Germany — another Chunky Caramel
  • Kit Kat Peanut butter — UK, Canada, Europe, Australia, — Chunky with peanut butter filling
  • Kit Kat Editions Tiramisu — UK
  • Kit Kat Extra Crispy — US — Chunky with a six layer wafer
  • Kit Kat Extra Crispy Triple Chocolate — US limited edition

Other Kit Kat forms and shapes

  • Kit Kat Choc'n'Go — France — box of individually wrapped fingers
  • Kit Kat Choc'n'Go Dark Choco — France limited edition — dark chocolate coating with carmelized cocoa pieces
  • Kit Kat Conversations — US limited edition — Valentine's Day minibars with imprinted messages (similar to Sweethearts)
  • Kit Kat I-Stick — Japan limited edition — Creamy bitter chocolate between wafers and dark chocolate coating — two stick format sold in cooler or freezer section of stores
  • Kit Kat Stick — Japan — box of individually wrapped long Kit Kat fingers
  • Kit Kat Stick Almond — Japan
  • Kit Kat Stick Half Bitter — Japan
  • Kit Kat Tablet — France — twelve finger family size bar
  • Kit Kat Temptations Caramel Fudge — Australia
  • Kit Kat Temptations Coconut Eclair — Australia
  • Kit Kat Temptations Hazelnut Praline — Australia
  • Kit Kat Crispy Sando (Sandwich) — Japan limited edition — four individually wrapped long uncoated five layer chocolate creme filled wafers
  • Kit Kat Crispy Monogatari — Japan limited edition — newer version of Kit Kat Crispy Sando
  • Kit Kat Crispy Monogatari Mango — Japan limited edition
  • Kit Kat Baby — Japan limited edition — small bag of round bite-size pieces
  • Kit Kat Ball — France — bag of round bite-size pieces
  • Kit Kat Bites — US, Malaysia — similar to Kit Kat ball
  • Kit Kat Pop Choc — UK, Germany — also identical to Kit Kat Ball
  • Kit Kat Kubes — UK — square-shaped miniature pieces
  • Kit Kat Cappuccino Kubes — UK limited edition
  • Kit Kat Mint Kubes — UK limited edition
  • Kit Kat Orange Kubes — UK limited edition

Ingredients

Original Kit Kat ingredients, listed by decreasing weight:

UK: Milk chocolate (66%) (sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, dried skimmed milk, whey powder, butterfat, vegetable fat, lactose, emulsifier (soya lecithin), flavouring), wheat flour, sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa mass, yeast, raising agent (sodium bicarbonate), salt, calcium sulfate, flavouring.

USA: sugar, wheat flour, cocoa butter, nonfat milk, chocolate, refined palm kernel oil, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, PGPR (emulsifier), yeast, artificial flavor, salt, sodium bicarbonate.

The difference in size, ingredients and texture of bars manufactured by Hershey and Nestlé can be noticed when one from each company is put side by side.

Trivia

  • One of the ingredients used in the production of Kit Kat bars is, appropriately enough, other Kit Kat bars which were damaged during manufacturing. They are powdered, and used as filling.
  • After launching in the 1930s, Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was originally advertised as "the biggest little meal" and "the best companion to a cup of tea". During the Second World War, Kit Kat was depicted as a valuable wartime foodstuff, with the slogan "what active people need". 'Kitty the Kat' arrived in the late 1940s to emphasise the "rich full cream milk" qualities of the bar and, thanks to contemporary improvements in production methods, also highlighted the new and improved 'snap' by responding to a biscuit being broken off screen. The first Kit Kat poster appeared in 1951, and the first colour TV advert appeared in 1969.
  • Since 1957, Nestlé's slogan for the Kit Kat in the UK and elsewhere has been "Have a break... have a Kit Kat". However, in 1995, Nestlé sought to trademark the "Have a break" portion. After a ten year legal battle which was contested by rival Mars, the European Court of Justice ruled on July 7, 2005 to send the case back to the British Courts. [11] In the meantime, Nestlé UK changed the slogan in 2004 to "Make the most of your break". [12] The new slogan was not embraced outside of the UK and recently Nestlé Rowntree has returned to using the original slogan.
  • The traditional red wrapper of the original bar briefly became blue between 1945 - 1947. As a result of milk shortages after the end of World War II, the milk chocolate coating was suspended and a dark chocolate used instead during that period.
  • In the UK, Nestlé have confirmed that the correct spelling of the brand name is KitKat (one word) although this is not consistent on their website nor on other Kit Kat websites around the world.
  • The Hershey Company's license to produce Kit Kat bars in the United States dates to 1969, when Hershey executed a licensing agreement for both the Kit Kat and the Rolo with Rowntree. Nestlé, which has a substantial presence in the US, had to honor the licensing agreement which allows Hershey to retain the Kit Kat / Rolo license so long as Hershey is not sold. This was a factor in Hershey's failed attempt to attract a serious buyer in 2002. [13] [14]
  • Hershey's Kit Kat packaging and advertising in the USA has differed from the branding used in every other country where the candy is sold although in 2002 Hershey Kit Kats finally started to adopt the slanted ellipse logo used worldwide by Nestlé.
  • In the USA the jingle currently used by Hershey for the Kit Kat bar is "Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!" Before that it was "Gimme a break, gimme a break, gimme a break of that Kit Kat bar!"
  • It is common to find Kit Kats stocked in two different locations within many UK supermarkets. Four finger Kit Kats and Kit Kat Chunkies are stocked at the confectionery counter or aisle, whereas multipacks of two finger bars are usually found in the biscuit aisle, being perfect accompaniments for a cup of tea.
  • Specialist vehicles with snow chains and diesel heaters are used to ship Kit Kats from the Scunthorpe depot to Russia and the other cold regions during the winter.
  • UK Kit Kat stocks are stored in two large warehouses in York, which have a total floorspace of 186,500 square ft and a combined capacity of 37,500 pallets.
  • The Kit Kat Orange was the first flavour variant. It was introduced in the UK in 1996, followed in 1997 by the Kit Kat Dark and Kit Kat Mint. Today all three are available as permanent editions in the UK solely in two finger multipacks, although the Kit Kat Orange occasionally reappears as a limited edition standard four finger bar from time to time.
  • A three finger Kit Kat is produced for the Middle East, simply to match a denomination of the local currency and make the product a convenient, one-coin purchase.
  • A wide variety of promotional items exist, ranging from the obvious (such as mugs, pens, oven gloves and tea-towels) to the somewhat less obvious (such as Kit Kat coats for small dogs). Recently in Japan, Kit Kats have come packaged with CD singles and a special limited edition double pack of Kit Kat Crispy Monogatari came bundled with a mini book featuring six short stories, one of which is written by Koji Suzuki, author of the Ring cycle series of books.
  • KitKash is one of the most recent Kit Kat promotions by Nestlé. Premiering in Australia and New Zealand in 2004, each Kit Kat wrapper contained a unique code inside. A winning code was potentially worth $20, $50, $100 or even $10,000. In 2005 the UK's KitKash involved registering an account on the KitKash website and accumulating the codes which each had a point value in order to buy, bid or win products on the site. In 2006 KitKash has been expanded in the UK to include KitKash points in many of Nestlé's other confections as well as spread to Germany (ChocoCash) and France (Kit Kat Kode). USA Kit Kats are also part of the action thanks to Hershey (WrapperCash).
  • In late 2004, Nestlé Rowntree started to sponsor York City F.C. at least until the end of 2006. In return the club's home playing ground Bootham Crescent has been renamed KitKat Crescent. [15]
  • In 2006, it was announced that Kit Kats were to be used as part of reality TV show Big Brother. 100 Kit Kats contained Wonka style Golden Tickets, and one of those who found a ticket was supposed to be randomly selected to take part as a contestant on the show in the UK. However, there are allegations that the contest was fixed and is currently under investigation by the ASA


Interesting Facts
A recent attempt at making an exceptionally large Kit Kat was made. It can be found at www.pimpmysnack.com

[16]

See also

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