I’ve been a long time addict of Kit Kat chocolate bars, and when I was in Japan I almost got sick trying to eat all the types of Kit Kats they have.
By a Month ago I was reading an article about Global Marketing and thought to myself: “Wow Nestle does a really good Global Marketing, specially with the Kit Kat Brand”. A global company is one that can create a single product and only have to tweak elements for different markets. For example, Coca-Cola uses two formulas (one with sugar, one with corn syrup) for all markets. The product packaging in every country incorporates the contour bottle design and the dynamic ribbon in some way, shape, or form. However, the bottle or can also includes the country’s native language and is the same size as other beverage bottles or cans in that country.
So I started looking for some material about Kit Kat and cultural tweaks of the product and finally I have it… well thanks for Tokyo5, he really did a great article about the chocolate.
Here is some insights that are really important.
- Kit Kat has exclusive flavor in Japan
- Japanese Kit-Kat chocolates are a popular souvenir with visitors to Japan from overseas
- Kit Kat is everywhere but Japanese people don’t really care about them, but foreigners love it.
Here are some Japanese Kit Kat Flavors
「雪見桜」 (Yukimizakura)
「大学いも味」 (“College Potato flavor”) for College Entrance Exams takers.
「林檎」 (Apple flavor)
Banana
「キャラメルマキアート」 (Cafe Latte with Caramel)
Cookies+
「大納言」 (Sweet bean)
ダブルベリー (Double Berry)
「伊藤久右衛門」 (Japanese green tea)
ほうじ茶 (Roasted Green Tea)
苺味 (Strawberry flavor)
Kit-Kat in a jar
きなこ (Soybean flour)
さくらんぼ味 (Cherry flavor)
みかん (Tangerine)
「白桃＆黄桃」 (White peach & Yellow peach)
Mild Bitter
Muscat grapes
「おしるこ味」 (Oshiruko flavor)
プリン (Pudding)
すいか (Watermelon)
White chocolate
ゆず (Japanese citrus fruit)
And then there are the “exotic“-series Kit-Kat chocolates:
“Exotic Tokyo”
“Exotic Tokyo; White”
“Exotic Tokyo; Sakura”
“Exotic Hokkaido”
“Exotic Hokkaido; White”
“Exotic Kyushu”
“Exotic Kansai”
I’m also going to try to do an article about Fanta, I had a lot of chasing new Fanta flavors in Japan like Strawberrys with cream, not so good
4 Comments
February 5, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Thanks for the link.
My post is here:
http://tokyo5.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/kit-kat-japan/
February 5, 2009 at 2:02 pm
The scary thing is that this is nowhere near all of them. I’ve reviewed 14 of them so far, and haven’t even seen some on this list!
The ones I’ve tried are here:
http://japanesesnackreviews.blogspot.com/search/label/Kit-Kat
I’m not sure that I agree with the idea that Japanese people don’t care about them. Only 2% of the population in Japan is foreign, and many of them are Asians who aren’t as fascinated with KitKats as Western folks. The Japanese have to be snapping these up as well. It’s my understanding that the Japanese market likes them mainly for their regional scarcity (some KitKats can only be purchased in certain cities) and as “good luck” (kitto katsu) treats for kids taking entrance tests. I think sales wouldn’t be good enough to keep putting out so many variations if Japanese consumers weren’t buying them in great quantities as well.
February 17, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Wow, that’s quite a list you have there. I like a couple of them but its a pity they’re always limited releases, so you can’t get them after a certain season.
February 17, 2009 at 1:04 pm
The sad thing is that here Brasil their isn’t any Kit Kat at all