I have been eating Kit Kats religiously for years.
I love everything about them. The simple milk chocolate, the wafer, the fact that there’s nothing else mucking it up. No caramel or nougat or candy shell.
So I wasn’t immediately sold on the various far-out flavors Nestle markets to its Japanese customers. Flavors like soy sauce, ginger ale, creme brulee, banana, even corn.
I guess I’m a Kit Kat purist.
How in the world did Kit Kat, a decidedly American snack with roots in northern England, get its break — no pun intended — in Japan?
Turns out “Kit Kat” sounds awfully like the phrase, “kitto katsu,” which roughly translates to mean, “surely wine.” It’s a term used to wish others good luck, often in school before exams. The candy has long been popular among students — and many of Japan’s faddy snackers.
Taking advantage of this, Nestle has put out more than 200 special edition flavors since 2000, many of them only found in certain regions in Japan. Most are bought as gifts or omiyage. And nearly every Hawaii resident who travels to Japan brings them back to share.
Nestle hasn’t launched very many new and different flavors of Kit Kats in the U.S. The only one I’ve found on shelves in the dark chocolate version, which is somewhat appealing and hardly adventurous.
But why? Wouldn’t Americans — namely those living in Hawaii — love the unusual flavors favored by Nestle’s Asian consumers?
What do you think?
And what interesting flavors have you tried?
