The legendary Kitkat gets a gourmet makeover for Christmas, with 1,500 flavour combinations. But would you pay €15 for one?
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KitKat, the tea-break snack, gets a gourmet makeover for Christmas, with 1,500 flavour combinations
Before you read the article,find this vocabulary in the text:
bespoke: made for a particular customer or user
upmarket: expensive and designed to appeal to rich people
pop-up: a temporary business which is open for a short time
stall: a compartment/stand for the sale of goods
flagship: the best/most important thing owned by an organisation
to coat: to provide a layer/covering of something
buzz: a general sense of excitement or interest in someone/something
bulk: the greater part of something; the majority
mainstream: things which are considered normal or conventional
tea dunker: an item of food which you dip/put in your tea!
stocking fillers: small presents given to friends and family at Christmas
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Bespoke KitKats are expected to be one of this year’s must-have Christmas presents after its owner, the food giant Nestlé, revealed the upmarket KitKat Chocolatory range.
Either via a dedicated website, or by visiting a pop-up stall in John Lewis’s flagship London store, shoppers will be able to order a custom KitKat from nearly 1,500 possible flavour combinations. The ingredient choices include rose petals and cocoa nibs and there is the option to coat the fingers in ruby chocolate. It has also produced “special edition” flavours – a surprising line-up that includes marmalade, Earl Grey and “whisky & ginger”.
Cheryl Allen, who heads KitKat in the UK, said it was a good time to try something new because there was a lot of “buzz” around the brand following Instagram-friendly updates such as matcha green tea flavour and ruby chocolate that appealed to younger consumers.
“KitKat was launched in the 1930s and one of the reasons it has endured for so long is because it has been able to evolve,” said Allen. “These are luxury, handcrafted chocolates and I think it will positively surprise people how far you can stretch this brand.”
But a luxury KitKat comes with a luxury price tag. The 150g eight-fingered bespoke bars – which will be made to order in Yorkshire – cost £14 (a 41.5g four-fingered KitKat usually costs 65p). The special editions start at £7.50.
“We are very clear that the bulk of our [chocolate] business remains in the mainstream,” said Allen. “This is a differentiated and premium product that is made to order.”
Nestlé has borrowed Chocolatory from Japan where it already runs KitKat boutiques under that name. What is a popular tea dunker in the UK is a different biscuit in Japan where it has an upmarket image. It is a popular good luck present (the name resembles kitto katsu which means “you will surely win” in Japanese) and since the millennium more than 300 flavours, including sake, edamame bean and wasabi, have been developed for the gift-giving culture.
With customised gifts also a huge trend – named jars of Marmite and tins of Quality Street have been big Christmas hits in recent years – it is also possible to put a message on the KitKat box.
John Lewis gift food buyer Rachel Costello predicted they would be popular stocking fillers: “I think our customers will love these exciting new flavours and the experience of making their own KitKat.” A pop-up shop will open in its Oxford Street store on Thursday, and a second will open at Manchester Trafford Centre on 1 October. It is also stocking special edition KitKats in 30 shops.
Adapted from theguardian.com by ECP coach Darren ‘Kez’ Kurien
Let’s chat about that!
Write your opinions in an email and send them to your ECP coach!
- Do you like chocolate? Would you pay €15 for a KitKat?
- Do you think that luxury KitKats will be a success? Why /not?
- What bespoke flavour would you choose for the product?
- Can you think of other products which have changed like this?
- Do you prefer traditional or modern food?