Kit Kat

Original 4-finger Kit Kat (USA)

Original Kit Kat (USA)

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

A Kit Kat bar or KitKat bar is a confection which was first created by Rowntree Limited of York, England, and now produced worldwide by Nestlé, which acquired Rowntree in 1988, except in the USA where it is made under licence by Hershey's. Each bar consists of fingers composed of three layers of crème-filled wafer, covered in an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger can be snapped from the bar one at a time.

History

The original four-finger version of this chocolate bar was developed after a worker at the Rowntree's factory in York put a suggestion in the suggestion box for a snack that a 'man could have in his lunch box for work'. It was launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp (price: 2d). The two finger version was launched on May 15, 1936. Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937, and later 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. The Kit Kat Chunky (known as Big Kat in the U.S.) 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 family-size bars in Australia and France. Kit Kat bars are sold either individually or in bags, boxes or multi-packs. In the UK and Canada, Nestlé also produces a Kit Kat ice cream; and in Malaysia, Kit Kat Drumsticks.

Global confection

The Kit Kat has been manufactured by Nestlé for Canada, Germany, Japan, and Australia. Kit Kat bars available in the United States are manufactured under licence by The Hershey Company, a Nestlé competitor, due to a prior licensing agreement with Rowntree. Kit Kat bars are manufactured in 13 countries: UK, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Japan, China, Malaysia, India, Turkey, Venezuela and Bulgaria.

The Kit Kat is the world's #2 chocolate bar after Snickers. 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 ten 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, which roughly translates to "You will surely win!" This has reportedly led to parents and children buying them for school examination days as a sort of good luck charm. 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 surely 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. It is also in Japan that Kit Kat has in recent years seen a variety of different flavours emerge, although each for a limited time. Some examples include, maple syrup, melon, vanilla bean, grape, apple, banana, caramel, kiwi, azuki, and cherry blossom. 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. 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 threatened to depose it from its #1 position. 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. The strategy initially reversed the decline of the Kit Kat [2] and has been adopted worldwide by Nestlé, Hershey, Mars and others with similar success.

This has resulted in many new flavours and varieties of the Kit Kat and other confections appearing globally since then. While some flavours have been hits, many have flopped, alienating some consumers in the process, causing Nestlé to scale back on new releases.

In late 2005 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. Also, in September 2006 Nestlé announced they were eliminating 25% of their workforce in York and moving production of Smarties to Germany. One of the reasons given for the cuts and moves was so that the York factory could be modernised for Kit Kat production to continue.

As dark chocolate has seen increased demand and favor worldwide because of its purported health benefits, September 2006 saw the launch of the four finger Kit Kat Fine Dark in the UK as a permanent edition as well as new packaging for the entire brand. Hershey, which had previously sold the four finger Kit Kat Dark in the US several years ago as a limited edition, is also expected to re-introduce the bar as a permanent edition in the near future.

Brand name and appearance

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 has 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 has a licence to produce Kit Kat bars in the United States which 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 honour the licensing agreement which allows Hershey to retain the Kit Kat / Rolo licence so long as Hershey is not sold. This was a factor in Hershey's failed attempt to attract a serious buyer in 2002.

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 (Though the ellipse is red and the text is white, rather than the other way around).

Marketing & promotion

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, the 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.

In the meantime, Nestlé UK changed the slogan in 2004 to "Make the most of your break". The new slogan was not embraced outside of the UK and recently Nestlé Rowntree has returned to using the original slogan.

One version of the advertising jingle 'Gimme a break' created for Kit Kat "Factory" commercial in the USA was an original recording by Andrew W. K. However, the "classic" version (in use since 1986) was written by Ken Shuldman (lyrics) and Michael A. Levine (music). Versions have been recorded by Carrie Underwood, Shawn Colvin, and an army of studio singers as well as people who have appeared on-camera in the commercials. The jingle was cited in a study by University of Cincinnati researcher James A. Kellaris as one of the top ten "earworms" - bits of melody that become stuck in your head. Earworms are considered a pathological condition.

A 1989 advertisement for KitKat, in which a giant panda in a zoo "takes a break" came 30th in Channel 4's "100 Greatest Adverts" poll in 2000. Another memorable 1980s UK TV advert for KitKat featured a music mogul auditioning a new band, ending with the line "You can't sing, you can't play, you look awful" (Pause) "You'll go a long way."

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.

Kit Kat varieties

Many varieties of Kit Kat have existed, either temporarily or permanently: There are often country-specific limited edition bars (not listed). (listed by primary market or origin)

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 in two finger multipacks, along with the Kit Kat Original and Kit Kat White.

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. The brand is often declined into special edition products in different markets to commemorate festivals such as St. Valentine's Day.

Japan appears to have pushed Kit Kat flavors the most. Kit Kat Japan also has unique "Regional" variations such as a mango flavored Kit Kat available only in Kyushu and Okinawa.

KitKat is also available in jars that are dispensed from vending machines in Japan.

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 Fine Dark — UK & Germany variant of Kit Kat Dark Chocolate
• Kit Kat Cacao 61% — Japan — newer version of Kit Kat Bitter with 61% cocoa content
• Kit Kat Cacao 72% — Japan — dark chocolate petits with 72% cocoa content
• Kit Kat White Creme — US permanent edition — current version of US Kit Kat White made with vegetable oil based candy coating rather than pure white chocolate
• Kit Kat Milky White — Germany variant of Kit Kat White Chocolate
• Kit Kat Mint — UK permanent edition, US limited edition — mint flavoured milk chocolate coating
• Kit Kat Mint Chocolate — Australia — mint green colour wafers
• Kit Kat Apple — Japan

• Kit Kat Orange — UK permanent edition, US, Canada, Japan, Malaysia limited edition.
• Kit Kat Café Latte with Hokkaidō Milk — Japan
• Kit Kat Caramac — UK
• Kit Kat Chocolate Overload — Australia — Milk Chocolate outside, chocolate creme filling and chocolate wafers
• Kit Kat Gold — Japan — petits with fudge like covering and dusted cocoa powder on outside

• Kit Kat Noisette (Hazelnut) — Germany
• Kit Kat Lite — India — two finger bar with 50% less sugar
• Kit Kat Carb Alternatives — US — low carb version with 50% less sugar carbs
• Kit Kat Low Carb — UK

Large single finger Chunky bars

File:KitKat chunky.jpg

KitKat Chunky

File:KitKatChunky.jpg

KitKat Chunky and KitKat Chunky Peanut Butter, as sold in the UK (September 2006)

• Kit Kat Chunky — UK, Canada, everywhere besides US & Japan
• Kit Kat Big Kat — Japan & Hershey US version of Chunky
• Kit Kat Big Kat Bitter — Japan
• Kit Kat Black — Turkey — a dark chocolate chunky
• 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 — limited or permanent edition in many different countries
• Kit Kat Cookie Dough — Australia
• Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut Cream — Germany
• Kit Kat Honeycomb — Australia
• Kit Kat Caramel — US version of Kit Kat Chunky Caramel
• 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 Strawberry; Australia and raises funds for the National Breats Cancer Foundation

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 caramelised cocoa pieces
• Kit Kat Family Block — Australia — twelve finger family size bar
• Kit Kat Family Block Chocolate Overload — Australia
• 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 — same as Kit Kat Family Block
• Kit Kat Ball — France — bag of round bite-size pieces
• Kit Kat Bites — US, Malaysia &, mdash; similar to Kit Kat ball
• Kit Kat Little — Japan — newer version of Kit Kat Baby
• Kit Kat Pop Choc — UK, Germany, Poland — also identical to Kit Kat Ball
• Kit Kat Kubes — UK — square-shaped miniature pieces

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 (a.k.a Gypsum), flavouring. At November 2006 the UK 4 finger Kitkat contained 233 dietary calories (kcal) (975 kilojoules).

USA: sugar, wheat flour, cocoa butter, non-fat milk, chocolate, refined palm kernel oil which kills oranutags, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, PGPR (emulsifier), yeast, artificial flavour, 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. Also the taste is noticeably different.

The Big Brother UK Series 7 golden ticket draw

During the first three weeks of Big Brother Series 7, Channel 4 conducted a promotion in conjunction with Nestle to distribute 100 golden tickets randomly throughout Kit Kat chocolate bars, in a style reminiscent of the story Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Members of the public finding these tickets were permitted to use them to give themselves a chance to become a Big Brother housemate and bypass the standard auditions process.

Golden ticket holders were invited to a television show where one of them, Susie Verrico, was chosen to enter the House by Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace, picking a ball out of a machine at random.

This contest has caused some controversy, with the Advertising Standards Authority saying that the terms and conditions of the draw should have been made clearer in related advertisements, and that an independent adjudicator should have been present before and during the draw..

Trivia

• 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.

External links

• History of Nestlé Rowntree
• Kit Kat USA official site
• Kit Kat UK official site
• Kit Kat Japan Official Site
• Kit Kat Australia official site
• UK KitKash site