Japan has a taste for exotic Kit Kats
Wasabi, green tea and sake aren’t just foods in Japan, they’re also a few of the many versions of Kit Kats offered in the country.
While the wafer-and-chocolate snacks have been available in more than 300 flavors there for more than four decades, recent offerings fromcustard pudding to ginger have made Japan the go-to destination for picking up odd variations. They’re so popular among tourists that Nestle is building its first Kit Kat factory in 26 years.
It’s no surprise, then, that the archipelago boasts the world’s second-largest consumption of Kit Kats. Nestle Japan will start operating a second factory in Hi- meji in August dedicated to makingupscale, pricier versions of the snack.
That’s probably a safe bet, thanks to Japan’s tourism boom. Spending by visitors surged to a record $22.5 billion in the six months through June, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. They’re also spending more on confectioneries, with candy consumption more than tripling over the past four years to $1.23 billion in 2016, according to the Ministry of the Environment.
A popular destination for fans of the snack is the Kit Kat Chocolatory in an underground shopping center connected to Tokyo Station, where Nestle sells highend flavors that can fetch more than $13.55 per package. Boxes of gourmet seasonal flavors — raspberry and grapefruit— with some costing asmuchas $31.62, ormore than 10 times the cost of a regular bag of Kit Kats, are stacked across a counter, wrapped in gold paper. OnTuesday, Nestle Japan opened its renovated Chocolatory flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo’s main shopping district.
“We take pride in our unique flavors and I think that makes Japan special in the Kit Kat world,” Takuya Hiramatsu, a spokesman forNestle Japan, said.