The Surprising Reason Kit Kat Almost Never Has Unique Flavors In The US
If you're a Kit Kat fan (and you should be) you've probably experienced the indignation that many Americans have also felt at the lack of fun and unique flavors in the U.S. We have to stand idly by and watch as other countries like Canada, Australia, and most notably, Japan, enjoy a whole slew of delicious and zany Kit Kat creations that seem too tantalizing to be true. Matcha tea, brown sugar syrup, purple sweet potato, and strawberry cheesecake (via Spoon University) are just a few of the options that we can only find through the internet (and thank goodness we have that option).
Even the flavors that may not sound appealing to everyone, like baked potato, sake, wasabi, and sweet corn, would be nice to have if only to try and mix up the dull rotation of flavors the U.S. offers. So why is it that other countries have such a wide array of wild, yummy flavors to choose from while Americans are left with white chocolate or mint chocolate as the most exciting Kit Kat option on the shelves?
US Kit Kat is owned by a different company than international Kit Kat
The sad truth of the matter is that the U.S. branch of Kit Kat is owned by Hershey, while internationally the company is owned by Nestlé. According to FoodBeast, this happened when Nestlé bought out Kit Kat from Rowntree in 1988, but the Hershey company already had a contract to produce Kit Kat bars in the States. So, while Japan has over 200 fun flavors (via Mental Floss), we sorry Americans are stuck with our meager original, white chocolate, dark chocolate, and mint chocolate options. Oh, and let's not forget the rare Strawberry Creme flavor that can sometimes be found, too.
Nestlé is the mastermind behind the interesting flavors found worldwide, and perhaps one day the Hershey Company will understand our pining for more Kit Kat options and give us the flavors we desire, nay, deserve. Until that point, however, we'll have to content ourselves with finding the fun flavors online (thank you, Amazon) and having them sent to our houses. Fortunately, it has become pretty easy to find and buy a lot of the unique kinds of Kit Kats on the internet, so it's really not that inconvenient.