Candy bars have a rich history in American culture. Nestle candy has been around for a hundred years and many candy bars have historical significance. So take our candy bar quiz on candy trivia and fun candy facts on Slashfood.

There is something about Japanese soft drinks, food, and candy treats that fascinates us here at Slashfood, and their chocolate bars are definitely no exception. Could you imagine biting into a Kit Kat stick, but rather than the regular chocolate and wafer flavor, you taste apple? If that isn't strange enough, how about Cherry Blossom or Melon?

The Japanese have certainly cornered the market on different varieties of the Kit Kat bar, with flavors ranging from Green Tea to Red Azuki Bean, to the premium "Exotic Tokyo" - a Japanese limited edition made with milk chocolate, passion fruit, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, blackcurrant and pepper. They even have an adult, Wine-flavored version, just in case the others are a little too tame for you.

In fact, as the folks over at InventorSpot have pointed out, Wikipedia now lists over 80 different varieties of the chocolate bar that have been in production at one point or another. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed this morning when I checked in at my local store and only found two different kinds available, but as we've said before, for some reason the flavored varieties just don't seem to do well over here or in the UK.

(thanks, Michelle!)

There are around 150 varieties of Kit Kats made around the world and I wish I could try them all. So far I've had regular, white chocolate, coffee, and dark chocolate. Today I got to try my new favorite, mint dark chocolate Kit Kat minis. They are available in the US in a holiday limited release, mini version. Which is the perfect size for me since they are packed so full of flavor that one or two of these half length, single "finger" bars take care of any craving for sweets that I may have. Although sweets may not be the best term because these are not too sweet. The chocolate is a "mildly sweet" dark chocolate with a nice mint taste making a great combo of flavors. The limited release candies perk up my interest and make me want to try the new varieties. This makes a nice holiday treat since I have gotten completely bored by my old standbys, to the point I hardly eat candy or chocolate anymore. Well, I guess my sweet tooth is back for the holidays.

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]