KitKats have long been one of the top-selling candy bars in Britain since their inception in 1935 by Rowntree LTD. The brand has been owned by Nestle since 1988, and Nestle increased its global distribution, making it one of the most popular candies in the world. To appeal to different tastes in different markets, Nestle has been producing flavored KitKats for many years now. These have enjoyed great success, particularly in Asian and Australian markets. The Wikipedia entry lists more than 65 different flavors of KitKat.
After having success elsewhere, Nestle turned to these limited edition and exotic flavors in the UK, with releases that ranged from strawberries and cream to mango to "Christmas pudding" all over the course of one year. They flopped. And not only did the flavors not sell, but KitKat sales in general fell by almost 17%. Galaxy bars saw an 11% increase in the same time period, largely making up the deficit in the number of bars sold.
The problem was that the bars were "not what [people] expected" from KitKats and the novelty wasn't enough to sustain sales. People purchased the flavored bars and lost interest in them, as well as being slightly turned off the original because the market was so saturated with KitKats. The flavors have been discontinued and the company is going to refocus on making up lost ground.
Hershey's, which owns the rights to the candy bar in the US, has released very few limited edition flavors, sticking primarily to white chocolate and dark chocolate. The company is unlikely to try a wide variety of flavors in the US because candy bar sales are not nearly as strong as in the UK. The company is, however, planning a caramel KitKat towards the end of this year.
[via WSJ]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-08-2006 @ 4:44PM
Pete M said...
haven't seen these at all, but at wimbledon last week they were giving out free Kit-Kat Chunky's with peanut butter inside which were amazing...
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7-08-2006 @ 5:30PM
Veruka said...
Maybe Canada, or parts thereof, are currently a test market for flavored Chunky Kit-Kats because I have had both the peanut butter and caramel ones here in Montreal, and the caramel is fantastic.
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7-08-2006 @ 6:20PM
cybele said...
Other limited edition flavored American ones included Mint, Orange (white chocolate), Coffee and Milkshake.
White chocolate is a permanent version and dark chocolate comes and goes. Then there were a few weird ones like "extra creamy milk chocolate" and of course the Big KitKat.
My favorite is the dark chocolate one you can still get in Canada.
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7-08-2006 @ 6:44PM
Dr. Electro said...
I had some triple chocolate KitKats and absolutely loved the taste. Other than that one the only variety to hit Texas was the white chocolate Big Kat. I'll still indulge in a KitKat once in a while, in spite of my doctor's protests.
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7-09-2006 @ 3:00PM
Gabriella said...
See, I would not try one of these. I really do like the original and If I am going to actually buy a candy bar which rarely happens I am not messing around with a new flavor.
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