Kit Kat

A Kit Kat bar is a confection manufactured by Nestlé. It consists of thin bars composed of three layers of creme-filled wafer, covered in an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger is usually snapped from the bar to be consumed. Kit Kat bars available in the United States are manufactured by Hershey Foods Corporation.

Related Topics:
Confection - Nestlé - Wafer - Chocolate - Hershey Foods Corporation

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The traditional bar had 4 fingers about 1 cm wide and 12 cm long; a snack variety of two fingers was later introduced. KitKat Chunky has one large finger approximately 2.5 cm wide.

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This chocolate bar was originally launched in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp in 1935, and renamed "KitKat" in 1937. The name is believed to have come from the Kit-Cat Club, an 18th Century Whig literary club whose meeting place had such low ceilings that paintings hung inside needed to have sections snapped off. Another explanation is that it is the sound made as one opens the packaging: "kit" as the foil snaps beneath one's thumb, and "kat" as a finger is broken off to be eaten.

Related Topics:
Chocolate bar - UK - Rowntree - 1935 - 1937 - Kit-Cat Club - 18th Century - Whig

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The Kit Kat has been exported in a number of localised versions for overseas markets, such as the United States, Canada, Germany and Australia. Its availability and popularity varies between countries. In recent years, Kit Kats have 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 win." This has reportedly led to parents and children buying them for school examination days as a sort of good luck charm. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4230471.stm

Related Topics:
Market - United States - Canada - Germany - Australia - Japan - Parent - Good luck

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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 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.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3560857.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3315183.stm 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. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/19/nkit19.xml The strategy reversed the decline of the Kit Kat http://www.irn-talkingshop.co.uk/categorymanager/nestlerowntree/nestle%20temp/pressrelease/Lemon%20Yoghurt%20Boosts%20KitKat.pdfand has been adopted worldwide by Nestlé, Hershey, Mars and others with similar success. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=950088&http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/05/02/limited_edition_candies_sweeten_the_marketplace?mode=PF 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.

Related Topics:
2003 - Confectionery - Low carb - Cadbury's - Dairy Milk - Limited - Mars

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