Image source: Nestlé
Have a break, have a KitKat. We all recognise the slogan for the chocolate wafer fingers featuring in packed lunches the world over. Perhaps we’ve heard of the dark chocolate version, the orange KitKat or even the Mint? But who knew the brand had diversified so far as to include flavours such as Green Tea, Strawberry Cheesecake, Wasabi and Soy Bean? Japan certainly did!
The chocolate bar is so popular in Japan that Nestlé has opened the first dedicated KitKat “boutique”-cum-snack bar in the Seibu department store situated in Tokyo‘s Ikebukuro neighborhood. Offering “exclusive” flavours such as Kobe pudding, purple potato, rum raisin, wine, special sakura green tea, special chilli and brandy and orange, the KitKat “Chocolatory” is designed to appeal to the Japanese love of novelty and, indeed, of KitKats! The brand certainly occupies a special place in the Japanese market.
Since 2012, when Nestlé introduced KitKat variations like Green Tea and Matcha flavour, specifically tailored to Japanese tastebuds, it has become the “nation’s favourite snack” – a status which Nestle hopes to “solidify” with the new store.
The brand claims the bar has achieved almost cult status in Japan, and is often given as a good luck charm to those taking exams. The explanation for this apparently tenuous connection is that the name “KitKat” sounds similar to the Japanese “kitto katsu” for “you will surely win”.
Of the new flagship KitKat store, spokeswomen Melanie Kohli said: “This is a completely novel approach and a complementary addition to the already existing Japanese Kit Kat product range”.
While some flavours sound unusual to British ears, many of us would no doubt like to taste these limited edition treats. Sadly, however, it doesn’t seem as though the company will open a store in the UK anytime soon…
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