business

New Kit Kat factory opens in Japan to meet exotic flavor demand

16 Comments
By FABRICE COFFRINI

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2017 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

16 Comments
Login to comment

Aside from Wasabi, a notoriously hot condiment 

Broke out the thesaurus for this comment huh? lol "Notoriously hot"....lol!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Little difference between wasabi and horseradish, most of what is sold in stores as wasabi is actually green coloured horseradish.

Few roots available as wasabi is difficult and expensive to produce. the

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Here's a novel idea: offer it online globally. Coke has unique regional flavours that would definitely find a market, for example. Green tea and other flavoured kikats would probably be popular in the japanophile sectors throughout the world. Imagine having regions for DVDs so that only movies with the right region could be watched in your country (exists still). Now imagine on top of that that you could not watch Zootopia in Japan as its an American movie or Sword Art Online in America as its Japanese. Yeah, ridiculous, right?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Kit Kats - exotic?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Just ship a couple of tons KitKat Matcha to Europe and save me from explaining that those delicious green bars are not available at stores over here. My friends are hooked now and need supply!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

They'd sell more if they didn't restrict these special flavours to those specialist shops or the airport. And I wish they would sell them individually, not in a box of 10 packs.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The green tea Kit Kats can be bought in London at the Japanese supermarket for 5-10 times the price in Japan.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Why the obsession with Kit Kats? A most boring choc bar.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It's a biscuit, not a bar.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Luddite: "Why the obsession with Kit Kats? A most boring choc bar."

Like every other trend that might get a bit of positive attention elsewhere, there is just a lot of back-patting over something they have nothing to do with themselves.

Also, in terms of the bar/biscuit itself as opposed to others, someone thought up the slightly clever association of the Katakanized name "kitto katsu" and "winning", giving the bars as a kind of auspicious present before exams, or even when opening postal accounts. As for the hit-or-miss flavors, it's another over the top trend.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Yes, FAKE wasabi is notoriously hot.

The most annoying thing about the wide ranging products here, such as Kit Kat, Gari Gari Kun, Jagaricho, Country Ma'am, etc is that when you discover a flavor you really like, POOF, it's gone and either never returns or comes back 14 months later.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Andy: "The most annoying thing about the wide ranging products here, such as Kit Kat, Gari Gari Kun, Jagaricho, Country Ma'am, etc is that when you discover a flavor you really like, POOF, it's gone and either never returns or comes back 14 months later."

Exactly! It makes sense, of course, if a kit-kat or other product flavour is a failure, but when it's a huge success and they take it off the shelves September first (or whatever the 'season' is) it makes zero sense. It's not "leaving you wanting more", it's just irritating, especially when they claim it's "sold out" instead. There is zero benefit to these 'seasonal' product campaigns, and plenty of negative aspects. Keeping something successful around as long as it is successful reduces packaging and production costs, as well as design, etc., and needless to say helps sales.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There is zero benefit to these 'seasonal' product campaigns, and plenty of negative aspects. Keeping something successful around as long as it is successful reduces packaging and production costs, as well as design, etc., and needless to say helps sales.

It's amazing that Japanese companies are able to stay in business, when there are so many foreigners on the internet that know more about their business than the companies themselves do. It's amazing that there are even any English teachers in Japan - you would think they would all have been snapped up by Japanese companies, since the foreigners know so much more than the Japanese do.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Why the obsession with Kit Kats? A most boring choc bar.

I agree, I mean it's not even very good chocolate. However, I guess it's not boring to people when they have Japan-only flavours. People like little twists on familiar things.

But, you know what they put on French fries in Holland instead of ketchup?

What?

Mayonnaise.

God damn!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is a major gamble. A large part of the attraction for Japanese is the fact it comes from overseas. I doubt if domestically made bars will sell as well.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

My favorite to do the multiple flavors here was Pepsi. From Cucumber to Salty Watermelon to red bean flavored Pepsi, I haven't seen anything lately.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites