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Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom, and is now produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United States, where it is made under
licence A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
by the H. B. Reese Candy Company, a division of the Hershey Company (an agreement Rowntree's first made with Hershey in 1970). The standard bars consist of two or four pieces composed of three layers of wafer, separated and covered by an outer layer of chocolate. Each finger can be snapped from the bar separately. There are many flavours of Kit Kat, including milk, white, and dark chocolate. The original four-finger version of the bar was developed after a worker at Rowntree's York factory put a suggestion in the recommendation box for "a chocolate bar that a man could take to work in his pack up". It was launched in September 1935 in the UK as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp, and the later two-finger version was launched in 1936. It was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937, and just Kit Kat after World War II. Since making its first television appearance in a UK commercial in 1958, the slogan for the Kit Kat in the UK and elsewhere has been "Have a break... have a Kit Kat". Since 1986 in the U.S., the jingle used in television advertisements has been "Gimme a break, Gimme a break, Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!"


History

Use of the name Kit Kat or Kit Cat for a type of food goes back to the 18th century, when mutton pies known as a Kit Kat were served at meetings of the political Kit-Cat Club in London owned by pastry chef Christopher Cat. The origins of what is now known as the Kit Kat brand go back to 1911, when Rowntree's, a confectionery company based in York, England, trademarked the terms Kit Cat and Kit Kat. The names were not used immediately and Kit Kat first appeared in the 1920s, when Rowntree's launched a brand of boxed chocolates entitled Kit Cat. This continued into the 1930s, when Rowntree's shifted focus and production onto its Black Magic and Dairy Box brands. With the promotion of alternative products, the Kit Cat brand decreased and was eventually discontinued. The original four-finger bar was developed after a worker at Rowntree's York Factory put a suggestion in a recommendation box for a snack that "a man could take to work in his pack". The bar was officially launched on 29 August 1935, under the title of Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp (priced at 2 d), and was sold in London and throughout southern England. Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was renamed Kit Kat Chocolate Crisp in 1937. The colour scheme and first flavour variation to the brand came in 1942, owing to World War II, when food shortages prompted an alteration in the recipe. The flavour of Kit Kat was changed to dark chocolate; the packaging abandoned its Chocolate Crisp title, and was coloured blue. After the war the name became Kit Kat, with the original milk chocolate recipe and red packaging. Following its success in the United Kingdom, in the 1940s Kit Kat was exported to Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1957, Donald Gilles, the executive at JWT London, created the iconic advertising line "Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat". The brand further expanded in the 1970s when Rowntree created a new distribution factory in Germany to meet European demand and established agreements to distribute the brand in the US through the Hershey company, and in Japan through
Fujiya () is a nationwide chain of confectionery stores and restaurants in Japan. Its first shop was founded in 1910 in Yokohama. Fujiya is credited with introducing the Christmas cake to Japan. In 2016, the company opened its first store outside Ja ...
. In June 1988, Swiss company Nestlé acquired Kit Kat through the purchase of Rowntree's, giving Nestlé global control over the brand, except in the US, and production and distribution increased with new facilities in Japan and additional manufacturing operations set up in Malaysia, India and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. The Hershey Company has a licence to produce Kit Kat bars in the United States which dates from 1970, when Hershey executed a licensing agreement with Rowntree which allowed Hershey to retain the Kit Kat licence so long as Hershey was not sold. Nestlé, which has a substantial presence in the US, had to honour the licensing agreement when it bought Rowntree in 1988. As Kit Kat is one of Hershey's top five brands in the US market, the Kit Kat licence was a key factor in Hershey's failed attempt to attract a serious buyer in 2002. Even Nestlé rejected Hershey's asking price. Nestlé's sale of its US confectionary business to
Ferrara Candy Company The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group. The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sa ...
in 2018 did not impact the Kit Kat bar, and thus rights would revert directly to Nestlé and not Ferrara in the event of a sale of Hershey. Variants in the traditional chocolate bar first appeared in 1996 when Kit Kat Orange, the first flavour variant, was introduced in the UK. Its success was followed by several varieties including mint and caramel, and in 1999 Kit Kat Chunky was launched and received favourably by international consumers. Variations on the traditional Kit Kat have continued to be developed since then. In 2000, Nestlé acquired Fujiya's share of the brand in Japan, and also expanded its marketplace in Japan, Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela, in addition to markets in Eastern and Central Europe. Throughout the decade, Kit Kat introduced dozens of flavours and line extensions within specific consumer markets. In September 2010, Kit Kat (and Aero) celebrated its 75th anniversary. Nestlé stated, "Since that momentous day in 1935, Kit Kat has firmly established itself in British culture, spreading its chocolate fingers far and wide that is sold in more countries than any other chocolate brand". The traditional bar has four fingers which each measure approximately by . A two-finger bar was launched in the 1930s, and has remained the company's best-selling
biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
brand ever since. The 1999 Kit Kat Chunky (known as Big Kat and Kit Kat Extra Crispy in the US) has one large finger approximately wide. Kit Kat bars contain varying numbers of fingers depending on the market, ranging from the half-finger sized Kit Kat Petit in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, to the three-fingered variants in Arabia, and the twelve-finger family-size bars in Australia and France. Kit Kat bars are sold individually and in bags, boxes and multi-packs.


Global confection

Kit Kat bars are produced in 16 countries by Nestlé: Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Russia, Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, and Algeria. Kit Kat bars in the United States are produced under licence by The Hershey Company, a Nestlé competitor, due to a prior licensing agreement with Rowntree. 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 Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, bread, pasta) are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein (e.g., meat, p ...
diets, and the push to healthier eating stifled sales growth in many parts of the world. In addition, fierce competition from
Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...
's newly formed
Dairy Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulating ...
superbrand also contributed to Kit Kat sales decreasing considerably in its home market of the UK, and threatened to depose it from its No.1 position. The solution adopted by Nestlé and others was to increase dramatically the number of new and unique variations of their confections and market them as limited or special editions, usually only available for a few months at a time so as not lose sales of their standard products. The strategy initially reversed the decline of the Kit Kat and has been adopted worldwide by Nestlé,
Hershey Hershey may refer to: People * Hershey (name), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname Places * Hershey, Nebraska, a village * Hershey, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, home to the chocolate company * Hershey, Cuba, ...
, Mars, and others with similar success. This has resulted in many new flavours and varieties of the Kit Kat and other confections appearing globally since then. In September 2006, Nestlé announced that they would be cutting 645 jobs in their York factory and moving all Smarties production to their Hamburg factory, which had already been producing two-thirds. They stated that this move would allow for a £20 million investment to modernise the antiquated York factory and improve Kit Kat production. In 2010, a new £5 million manufacturing line was opened by Nestlé in York, to produce more than one billion Kit Kat bars each year. As dark chocolate has seen increased demand and favour worldwide because of its purported health benefits, in September 2006 the four-finger Kit Kat Fine Dark was launched in the United Kingdom as a permanent product. Hershey had sold the four-finger Kit Kat Dark in the US several years previously as a limited edition, and began doing so again. Nestlé now manufactures two-finger Kit Kats with natural flavourings, and in February 2021 announced the rollout of the first vegan Kit Kat. In 2014, Kit Kat was ranked the third best selling chocolate bar in the United Kingdom, after
Dairy Milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulating ...
and
Galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
. Sometimes considered a
biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
, in 2020 sales of Kit Kats were second to McVitie's biscuits in the UK in the biscuit category.


Design

When first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1935, the original Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp bar had a red wrapper, which briefly became blue between 1945 and 1947. The Kit Kat logo was added in 1937. As a result of milk shortages after the end of World War II – a period of
rationing in the UK Rationing was introduced temporarily by the British government several times during the 20th century, during and immediately after a war. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, the United Kingdom was importing 20 million long tons of ...
– dark chocolate was used instead of milk chocolate during that period. Since its introduction into the US in the 1970s, the Hershey's Kit Kat packaging and advertising has differed from the branding used in every other country where it was sold. In 2002, Hershey Kit Kats adopted the slanted
ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focus (geometry), focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special ty ...
logo used worldwide by Nestlé, though the ellipse was red and the text white. The US version of "Kit Kat Chunky" is known as "Big Kat". In the United Kingdom, the product was traditionally wrapped in silver foil and an outer paper band. In 2001 this was changed to flow wrap plastic. Foil and paper wrapping is still used for Kit Kats sold as part of a multipack. In 2020, Kit Kat won the Lausanne Index Prize - Best of Packaging.


Marketing and promotion


Advertising

After launching in the 1930s, Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp was originally advertised as "the biggest little meal" and "the perfect companion to a cup of tea". During World War II, Kit Kat was depicted as a valuable wartime foodstuff, with the slogan "what active people need". The first Kit Kat poster appeared in 1951, and the brand made its first television appearance in a UK commercial in 1958. The first colour TV advertisement appeared in 1969. Since 1957, the slogan for the Kit Kat in the UK and elsewhere has been "Have a break... have a Kit Kat". However, in 1995, Nestlé sought to trademark the "Have a break" portion. After a ten-year legal battle, which was contested by rival Mars, the
European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...
ruled on 7 July 2005 to send the case back to the British courts. In 2004, Nestlé UK used the slogan "Make the most of your break", but later returned to the original slogan. The United States also used the short-lived slogan, "Tastes So Good, You'll Roar", in the early 1980s. The TV commercial most known from this slogan involves a young man biting into one of the Kit Kat bars in a grocery store, and roaring like a lion so loudly the whole store shakes violently, knocking items from the shelves. Another short-lived US slogan was "That's What You Want", whose television adverts showed people pulling unlikely foodstuffs from their pockets or purses, before rejecting them in favour of a Kit Kat. The "classic" American version of the "Gimme a Break" Kit Kat jingle (in use in the US since 1986) was written by Ken Shuldman (copy) and
Michael A. Levine Michael A. Levine (born 20 February 1964 in Tokyo, Japan) is an American composer, music producer and screenwriter born in Japan and currently based in Los Angeles. He is best known for his work in film and television. Early career Trained as ...
(music) for the DDB Advertising Agency. Versions of the original have been covered by
Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005. Her single "Inside Your Heaven" made her the only country artist to debut atop the ''Bill ...
, Shawn Colvin, and many studio singers, as well as people who have appeared on-camera in the commercials. The jingle was cited in a study by University of Cincinnati researcher James J. Kellaris as one of the top ten " earworms" – bits of melody that become stuck in your head. Another version of the advertising jingle 'Gimme a break' created for Kit Kat "Factory" commercial in the US was an original recording by
Andrew W.K. Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), known professionally as Andrew W.K., is an American conceptual performance artist, rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor. Raised in Michigan, Wilkes-Krier began his musi ...
W.K. was hired to write a new musical version for their "Gimme a break" slogan. Variations on the Andrew W.K. advertisement included executive dance routines in corporate offices and a network newsroom. However, the "classic" song has also been used again since the newer version first aired in 2004. Many adverts were worldwide hits among them in the 1980s with
Ken Campbell Kenneth Victor Campbell (10 December 1941 – 31 August 2008) was an English actor, writer and director known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre". Campbell achieved notoriety in the 1 ...
in an advert with
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
and
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
with Devil and Angel on Television. In Australia, TV ads for Kit Kat featured the classic children's show '' Thunderbirds'', which played off the catchphrase "Thunderbirds Are Go" but instead sees one of the members enjoying a Kit Kat "Break." A 1989 UK television commercial for Kit Kat, in which a zoo photographer "takes a break" from waiting for pandas to appear in an enclosure and misses them performing a dance routine, came in 30th in Channel 4's "
The 100 Greatest TV Ads ''The 100 Greatest TV Ads'' is a British TV entertainment programme that first aired on 29 April 2000 on Channel 4. It is part of the channel's '' 100 Greatest'' strand of programmes, and was presented by Graham Norton. The programme counted dow ...
" poll in 2000. In late 2004 through to the end of 2006, Nestlé Rowntree sponsored the English football club York City F.C. As a result, the club's home-ground, Bootham Crescent, was renamed to KitKat Crescent. The Maltese tour boat MV ''Lady Davinia'' had a distinctive red and white Kit Kat paint scheme before she sank in 2008. In a 2012 advertising campaign in the UK and Ireland, several new flavours of Chunky Kit Kat were marketed, with consumers being asked to vote for their favourite. Selecting from white chocolate, double chocolate, peanut butter, and orange, Peanut butter was the winner by having 47% of votes. A similar campaign occurred in 2013 with mint, coconut,
hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...
and chocolate fudge.


Association with Android

In September 2013, it was announced that version 4.4 of Google's
Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
mobile operating system would be named "KitKat". Google licensed the name from Nestlé, with no money changing hands. A promotion ran in numerous countries with specially branded Android Kit Kat bars to win Nexus 7 devices and Google Play Store credit.


Fairtrade

In December 2009, it was announced that the four-finger variety of Kit Kat would use
Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...
chocolate (at least in Britain and Ireland) from January 2010. The Fairtrade Kit Kat promotion was extended to the two-finger edition in January 2010. In June 2020, Nestle announced that KitKat was to end its relationship with the non-profit organisation,
Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...
, instead choosing to source its cocoa for KitKat chocolate bars from farms with a
Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American environmental activist, who serves ...
accreditation.


Golden ticket draw

In the first three weeks of '' Big Brother Series 7'' in the UK, Channel 4 conducted a promotion in conjunction with Nestlé to distribute 100 "golden tickets" randomly throughout Kit Kats, in a style reminiscent of the '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' story. Members of the public finding these tickets were permitted to use them to give themselves a chance to become a ''Big Brother'' housemate and bypass the standard auditions process. Golden ticket holders were invited to a television show where one of them,
Susie Verrico ''Big Brother 2006'', also known as ''Big Brother 7'', was the seventh series of the British reality television series '' Big Brother''. The show followed a total of twenty-two contestants, known as housemates, who were isolated from the outside ...
, was chosen to enter the House by
Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace (}; born 28 December 1978) is an English television personality, model, actress and columnist who emerged into the public eye in 2006 when she appeared as a contestant in the seventh series of reality television show ' ...
, picking a ball out of a machine at random. This contest caused some controversy, with the Advertising Standards Authority saying that the terms and conditions of the draw should have been made clearer in related advertisements, and that an independent adjudicator should have been present before and during the draw.


Varieties


Flavours

Many varieties of Kit Kat have existed, either permanently or as limited editions, such as those sold to commemorate festivals such as Valentine's Day. In Japan, Nestlé has introduced over 300 different flavours since 2000, including ginger ale,
soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...
, creme brulee,
green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...
, sake, and
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
. The flavours are designed to appeal to younger buyers, and are often bought as good-luck gifts as the brand name echoes the Japanese phrase "Kitto Katsu", roughly translating as "surely win." The Kit Kat Orange was the first flavour variant to be introduced in the United Kingdom, in 1996 and 1998 in Ireland. It was followed in 1997 by the Kit Kat Dark and Kit Kat Mint. All three were available as permanent editions of the two-finger multipack in the United Kingdom, along with the Kit Kat Original, the Kit Kat White, and from 2012 the Kit Kat Cookies & Cream. A wide variety of promotional items exist, ranging from traditional merchandise (such as mugs, pens, oven gloves and tea-towels) to less common items such as coats for small dogs. In Japan, Kit Kats have come packaged with CD singles, and a special limited edition double pack of Kit Kat Crispy Monogatari came bundled with a mini book featuring six short stories, one of which was written by Koji Suzuki, author of the
Ring cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...
series. In Japan, Kit Kats are also available in jars that are dispensed from vending machines. Kit Kat introduced two new flavors to the United States in 2020: Lemon Crisp and Raspberry Creme. The new flavours are available in regular sized bars or miniature bars.“Kit Kat is releasing new lemon crisp and raspberry creme flavors for Valentine's Day”
Insider.com. Retrieved 5 February 2020
In 2020, Nestlé launched a new flavor, Scotch whisky KitKats, available only in Japan using chocolate aged for six months in whisky barrels in Scotland. In February 2021, the company announced it will be launching a vegan,
dairy-free Milk allergy is an adverse immune reaction to one or more proteins in cow's milk. Among the possible symptoms is anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition that requires treatment with epinephrine, among other measures. However, sy ...
version of their popular KitKat product. The bar will be called called KitKat V and it will be available in select countries in late 2021 and then expand worldwide.


Forms

The 'standard' Kit Kat finger bars can come in a variety of presentations and nutritional values. The bars can come in a miniature form of two finger mini bars, or a larger standard four, or in some cases, three, fingered bars. The standard size has been upgraded in several cases up to a 'monster Size' bar, which can include up to five or eight fingers. Large single-fingered "Chunky Kit Kats" were launched in the United Kingdom in 1998 and have been sold in a variety of flavours. The market for Chunky Kit Kats has also expanded to Canada. Other forms and shapes include "Choc'n'Go" individually wrapped fingers in France, a twelve-finger "Family Block" available in New Zealand and Australia, round bite-sized "Pop Choc" pieces, square "Kubes", praline-filled "Senses", a yoghurt with Kit Kat pieces, and a Kit Kat ice cream cone. In the 1980s, a Kit Kat with five shorter fingers was sold in vending machines in the UK. The Japanese ''Bake 'N Tasty Mini Kit Kats Custard Pudding Flavour'' was launched in 2014. The bar must be baked in an oven before consumption, and the surface sugar caramelises in the process. In 2015, a new luxury and giftable variant of Kit Kat called Kit Kat Rubies was launched in Malaysia. Comes with the box of 20 small bars, the Kit Kat Rubies bar made with the premium chocolate truffle cream and imported roasted hazelnut pieces. As of 2017, U.S. variants include the standard and king-size four-finger bars, standard bars covered with white or dark chocolate, snack-size orange-covered bars for Halloween, bagged wrapped one-finger miniatures (original and assorted), unwrapped minis, a redesigned Big Kat, and a king-size Big Kat (two of the new Big Kat bars).


Chocolatory

Kit Kat has opened a Chocolatory in the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre in Melbourne, Australia. There is also one in Sydney. The shops allow customers to use touch screens to create their own Kit Kat from a selection of chocolates and ingredients; they are made while the customers wait, and customers can mix their own flavours with some Kit Kat that has been provided in store. There are similar locations in Brazil, Japan and Canada.


Criticisms and controversies

In March 2010, Kit Kat was targeted for a boycott by
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
for using
palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
, which the environmental organisation claimed resulted in destruction of forest habitats for orangutans in Indonesia. A YouTube video by Greenpeace went
viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...
and Nestlé announced a partnership with The Forest Trust to establish "responsible sourcing guidelines" and ensure that its products did not have a deforestation footprint. They aimed to achieve a fully sustainable method of palm oil harvesting by 2015. Nestlé states that 58% of palm oil purchased in 2017 was responsibly sourced.


Ingredients

Original Kit Kat ingredients unless otherwise stated, listed by decreasing weight: milk chocolate (
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
, milk ingredients, cocoa butter,
cocoa mass Chocolate liquor (cocoa liquor) is pure cocoa mass (cocoa paste) in solid or semi-solid form. Like the cocoa beans (nibs) from which it is produced, it contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in roughly equal proportion. It is produced fr ...
, whey powder,
lactose Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix '' - ...
, soya
lecithin Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so ar ...
,
polyglycerol polyricinoleate Polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR), E476, is an emulsifier made from glycerol and fatty acids (usually from castor bean, but also from soybean oil). In chocolate, compound chocolate and similar coatings, PGPR is mainly used with another substan ...
, natural flavour), wheat flour, sugar, modified
palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
,
cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
,
sodium bicarbonate Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt composed of a sodium cation ( Na+) and a bicarbonate anion ( HCO3−) ...
, soya lecithin, yeast, and natural flavour.


Europe

Milk chocolate (66%) (sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, dried
whole milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulating ...
, cocoa mass, lactose and proteins from whey, whey powder,
emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Altho ...
(sunflower lecithin), butterfat, flavouring), wheat flour, sugar, vegetable fat, cocoa mass, yeast, raising agent (sodium bicarbonate), salt,
emulsifier An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Altho ...
(soya lecithin), flavourings. In 2006, the UK four-finger Kit Kat contained 233 dietary
calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...
s (kcal) (975 kilojoules). In 2009, the two-finger Kit Kat contained 107 calories. In 2013, the UK Kit Kat Chunky contained 247 calories which reduced to 207 calories in 2015. This correlated to a reduction in weight by 19% from 48 g to 40 g.


United States

Hershey's Kit Kat Crisp Wafers in Chocolate contain sugar, wheat flour, cocoa butter, nonfat milk, chocolate, refined palm kernel oil, lactose (milk), milk fat, contains 2% or less of: soy lecithin, PGPR (emulsifier), yeast, artificial flavor, salt, and sodium bicarbonate.


Canada

Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, whey powder, lactose, soya lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, natural flavour), wheat flour, sugar, modified palm oil, cocoa, sodium bicarbonate, soya lecithin, yeast, natural flavour. Dark chocolate: cocoa mass, sugar, wheat flour, palm kernel, palm,
coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
and vegetable oils, modified milk ingredients, cocoa butter, sunflower and soy lecithins, yeast, sodium bicarbonate, calcium sulphate, salt, protease, xylanase, natural flavours.


Asia

In Japan, Kit Kats are produced at Nestlé-owned factories in Himeji and Kasumigaura. The milk chocolate used for Kit Kats is made from whole-milk powder and Nestlé buys most of its cacao beans from West Africa. Nestlé has factories in various locations in China, to supply to China and Hong Kong. During the
2008 Chinese milk scandal The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a significant Food safety incidents in China, food safety incident in China. The scandal involved Sanlu Group, Sanlu Group's milk and infant formula along with other food materials and components being adultera ...
, where melamine was found to have tainted some milk suppliers in China, importers in Hong Kong chose to import bars manufactured in the United Kingdom.


See also

*
Kit Kats in Japan There have been more than 300 limited-edition seasonal and regional flavors of Kit Kat chocolate bars produced in Japan since 2000, many exclusive to the country and not produced elsewhere. Nestlé, which operates the Kit Kat brand in Japan, repo ...
*
Kvikk Lunsj ''Kvikk Lunsj'' (Norwegian: ''Quick Lunch'') is the name of a chocolate bar that was launched by the Norwegian chocolate sweets manufacturing company, Freia, in 1937 and has been sold ever since — with the exception of a period during and afte ...


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* * {{Rowntree's Biscuit brands British confectionery Nestlé brands The Hershey Company brands Products introduced in 1935 Rowntree's brands Yorkshire cuisine Chocolate bars Brand name confectionery