2012年03月27日 Japan's Strangest Kit Kat Flavors «

Kit Kat
I think Japan has the most variety of Kit Kat chocolate I have ever seen. When I go home to Canada I always end up taking Kit Kat back because of the many flavors available. The airport gift shop at Narita is a great place to pickup a bunch of these, especially last minute. Some interesting flavors include (but not limited to) green tea, sweet potato, melon, strawberry, cheesecake, soy sauce and even wasabi!

So what’s the secret to the success of the Kit Kat brand in Japan? It turns out that the answer is part marketing and part linguistic coincidence. Kit Kat is very similar to the phrase “kitto katsu”, which is a common sentiment of good luck (the phrase literally means “You shall surely win!”). Because of this, Kit Kats have become a small good luck charm given out to students taking school entrance exams.

The other half of the Kit Kat success story has to do with marketing. Capitalizing on the Japanese tendency to “Catch ‘em all”, varieties of Kit Kats are quickly introduced and then pulled from the market to increase demand. In addition, certain varieties of Kit Kats are based on regional tastes, and are not always available nationwide. (weirdrasiannews)

Many Kit Kats at one of the gates inside Narita Airport.

Recently I came across a pack at the supermarket selling Kit Kat varieties from England, Australia, and Japan rolled into one pack.

(Starting from the top-left clockwise) English Kit Kat , Japanese Kit Kat, and Australian Kita Kat.

Interestingly they taste slightly different. I’m assuming to suit the tastes of the locals like they do here in Japan. Similar to what I hear Coke does to its formula based on where it’s sold in the world by adding more fizz or sugar for example.

The English Kit Kat tastes coffee-like and the Australian one seems sweeter to me compared to the Japanese variety. But really, if I have chocolate to stuff in my face then I’m content!

Check out this url for pictures (scroll to the bottom) of many past and present varieties of Kit Kat in Japan:
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/03/18/japans-strangest-kit-kat-flavors/

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Tags: food, Kit Kat, chocolate

This entry was posted on March 27, 2012 at 10:19 pm and is filed under The Everyday, All, Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.