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If you are one of my dedicated readers you will be aware that I really enjoy looking at how one bar of chocolate can differ from country-to-country. Down the years I have done this with the likes of the Snickers bar, ongoingly with Cadbury Dairy Milk and of course with the renowned Nestle Kit Kat.
Having picked up on my fondest for country-on-country comparisons, ChocolateMission reader Paul sent me these Kit Kats that he sourced from the US. Before sampling them, I couldn't help myself but look at what other chocolate bloggers had said about the US Kit Kat - no surprises that Cybele's review over at CandyBlog (See HERE) was the most thorough and insightful ;) No doubt some of you may have been confused by the title of the post what with the 'Hershey' branding replacing the more commonly seen 'Nestle'. Well to clear this up in the most succinct manner let me hand over to Wikipedia ...
'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.'
As of time of writing (February 2011), the US range currently consists of a Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Extra Crispy (Chunky) aswell as several seasonal lines. Being the generous chap he is, Paul sent me a one of each of the different bars.
As you can see by the photos the first noticeable difference from the UK bars was of course the wrappers (you can click in to the photos today to make them a little bigger!!). Aesthetically I thought they were pretty cool and I happened to think they conveyed a fresher, more modern look for the brand. Unzipped from their foil confines, both finger and chunky formats looked no different to their UK counterparts - you wouldn't have been able to tell one apart from the other.
So the taste test - how did they all fair!??
Well, unlike the UK bars where I genuinely cant pick a favourite between the Chunky & Finger format, I actually had greater fondness for the Hershey's Extra Crispy variety compared to it's finger equivalent. The main reason for this was because of the chocolate coating, as I found it was more reliant on it's sugar based flavours and wasn't as creamy as any of it's Nestle equivalents (UK, Japan, Australasia ... you name it!). Unfortunately this was something that only seemed to be more noticeable with the White Chocolate variant. Although the taste of the white chocolate had a stronger creamier taste initially, the sugar based flavours came with greater intensity as the chocolate melted. For my taste the white chocolate bar was too sweet, and not totally consumable in the one sitting without getting that throat scorching sensation. Ending on a more positive note, the Extra Crispy had a firmer, larger and ultimately more flavoursome wafer at it's heart - this format did prove to be my preferred one of them all.
Overall whilst must be stressed that Hershey have by no means taken the Kit Kat and done anything wrong with it whatsoever, I personally thought they weren't quite as their Nestle comparators. Stick the two bars in front of your average person and it is likely they wouldn't be able to tell them apart, as ultimately the differences between the two are pretty subtle. Speaking as a bit of a Kit Kat fanatic myself though, I couldn't help but pick up on the things I have gone into detail about above. To put it in to context it wouldn't be worth an American importing a UK Kit Kat based on a recommendation of superior taste, nor would make sense at all for a UK citizen to avoid these American versions because they aren't as good. Fundamentally they both provide that terrific Kit Kat experience.
Hershey Kit Kat Milk Chocolate - 42.0g
Kcal 210 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 27.0g
7.5 out of 10
Hershey Kit Kat White Chocolate - 42.0g
Kcal 220 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 27.0g
6.8 out of 10
Hershey Kit Kat Extra Crispy - 45.0g
Kcal 220 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 29.0g
8.0 out of 10
Posts
66 comments:
I had no idea they even had Kit kats in the US. You never see them if you look any of the american importer websites. Perhaps they just don't stock them cause they know we get them here already.
It would be interesting to try these just to see how they compare.
You should have got someone to help you out and taste them blindly. I think the majority of people in this country would tell you the Hersheys ones are worse just because of what they think about their normal chocolate. If they didn't know beforehand they might give a more honest opinion.
Their wrappers are all better looking than our ones. They have that retro coolness about them dont they.
Now this upsets me :-( Why on earth can Hershey make a white chocolate kit kat for americans but nestle dont make one for us Brits? Its so stupid. The original makers not making the biggest range is so incredibly stupid. Rant over lol.
Rxxx
Great post Jim I agree with you about these comparisons being interesting to see. Would it possible for you to do the same sort of thing with the kk chunky on jlist please. Adding in the japanese chunky in to the mix would provide an even bigger lot to compare. You never know, it could even be the best.
Lol I really want a Kit Kat now. We don't have any in the house though :( my Mum bought crummy Breakaways this week. Doh.
Do they get a dark chocolate one? Or is that the one they have replaced with the white choc? I've always thought white chocolate goes better than the other chocolate types does with wafer. Why they have never made a milkybar kit kat I do not know.
Nice work Jim. Your thoroughness in your search for the best chocolate bar in the world is amazing. You sure are making sure you cover every angle aren't ya :P
Boo hoo we should have a white chocolate kitty kat. Its so pretty looking. Why so mean with the low rating? I demand you get me another from america and let me score it for you lol.
Dx
How do they treat kit kats in america? Do they limit the amount of flavours they have to the extent we do? or is it more a free country like in the far east where they get millions? Judging by that you say I'm guessing they are quite limited.
They blatantly need to sort out a Hershey Kit Kat with Reeses PB in the middle. That is the stuff dreams are made lol.
Hey J,
Before you get started let me just say that the Liverpool are saving all their goals for next weekeneds match. lol I hope so anyway, we were so useless yesterday it was rubbish. If we play like that next week we will get buried by you lot.
These Kit kats are mental btw. I never knew that nestle sold of the american part to hershey, I find that fascinating considering they produce choc in America already.
Cheers
N
ps Did you see the carling cup final? How good was that! I couldn't believe it! It was such an incredible game wasn't it.
N
Ewwww why would nestle let hersheys destroy the kit kat with their yucky chocolate. I thought the nestle stuff was bad enough lol.
Blimey how many Kit Kat reviews do you think you have written now? If you add up all the ones from the UK, Japan and now America you got to be nearing 30.
They must be the most well represented brand on here by miles.
Your photos aren't like your usual ones. Did you do them still or get someone else to?
The Americans are so naive they probably think that Hershey first made the Kit Kat and that it is nestle who have snagged it off them.
Why do they not call the chunky Kit Kat a chunky? Extra Crispy is such a poorer name for it.
Although I don't like the names I do like the classical look of the wrappers. I know you say the chocolate isn't good but they should get credit for their nifty looking packets.
Lol these were never going to beat our ones. Especially since they were made by hershey lol. No chance ya Yankee-Doodles.
Why haven't hershey put their logo on these if they have made them? Nestle put their one on all the rest of the kit kats you get from round the world. No one will even know that a different company make these unless they bothered looking closely.
No doubt some of you may have been confused by the title of the post what with the 'Hershey' branding replacing the more commonly seen 'Nestle'. Well to clear this up in the most succinct manner let me hand over to Wikipedia ...
'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.'
but but but ..... Nestle make chocolates in america aswell (butterfinger namely.)
Why would they not produce the kit kat aswell? Letting one of their biggest rivals sell it doesn't make any sense whatsoever?
If Nestle in America don't think its worth making Kit Kats they need their heads checked.
I agree with Rachel it stupid beyond belief that nestle don't make a white chocolate one.
If hershey can do it I see no excuse why nestle cant themselves. It's not as if they don't have the perfect chocolate to do it with ...... milkybar anyone?
Can someone from America tell us what sort of price Kit Kats are? Because they are 'rare' does that make then anymore expensive than like a normal hershey bar?
Lol you have tried so many kit kats you could create a league table. That would be a well interesting post now I think about it. Hearing what you think the top ten kit kats are in the world would be great. I would have to try all of them then.
Its been ages since you last got something from America. Have you managed to get a snickers squared yet? Im well interested to hear what you think about it.
Jim can you please please please create a tag or blog label for all your kit kat reviews. It's a bit annoying having to look under nestle all the time cause you get all the other rubbish they make in there lol.
Its only Kit Kats that are worth looking at :P
I have Kit Kat envy now :-)
Forget the chunkys, traditional 4 fingers ftw.
I've never got why one chocolate bar can be insanely popular in one country (like the kit kat here), and then it be such a minor entitiy in another. The kit kat isn't one you think about right away when talking about Us chocolates.
If they are allowed there are so many awesome things that hershey could do with a base of Kit Kat. Making chunky versions of their York, Reese's and cookies n creme bar would be awesome don't you think?
Lol your pictures get more and more artsy fartsy as time goes by.
You used to do like straight edge pack shots but you appear to be getting more adventurous. I say you keep the original style for most of them but then when you do odder reviews like this you change it up a bit. Nice one Jimbo.
Is this one of the chocolates that they produce in Mexico. Some of my friends in america recently told me about how they switched production to factories in mexico to save on labour costs. They said ever since they did that the quality of the chocolate had fallen a bit.
Personally I don't see how the can make hershey chocolate much worse in the first place. Lol sorry I had to get that in :P
Kit Kats have to be the best brand of chocolate in the world. There isn't another that has such global appeal, they sell them everywhere, and everywhere loves them ..... I think you have found the winner of your chocolate mission.
Do you think this is a case of the nestle chocolate ACTUALLY being superior? Or is it more the case that you are more used to it and don't like the change to the american tasting chocolate? Your average american would probs think the opposite to you and think the nestle one tastes weired.
Hershey also make mint ones around Christmas time http://www.eyeondeals.com/kitkat/kitkat-mint-4finger-240x160.jpg
I wonder if it was better than our one we get in the supermarkets?
I would love to do these experiments you get to do. I find it fascinating how these things can change from area to area. You would have thought they would be more efficent and just create everything at one super factory and then send out from there.
The only 100% way of making sure these conclusions are legit is by getting an american perspective on it. Get one of your other blogger mates to do the same thing jim.
All this talk of white Kitkats is making me miss the ones we used to get here :( They made them in 4-finger, 2-finger, and even Chunky.
I'm actually not impressed with UK Kitkats at the moment, at least the 4 finger ones, they seem to be more sugary than before. Also I don't like that odd "woody" taste that Nestle chocolate has now.
If only they would team up with Cadbury and make a dairy milk Kitkat...we can always dream eh?
I tried US kitkats last year, I thought they were horrible lol and that wasnt because they had Hershey Chocolate on them ... they just had a wierd tatse that i couldnt place.. nothing like a normal kitkat, almost perfumey..urgh!
I think everyones misunderstanding the licencing agreement - it was made with ROWNTREES, not Nestle, way back when Rowntrees was an independent company i imagine before even it became Rowntree Mackintosh i 1969. Nestle are just upholding the agreement, daft as it now seems, since they took over Rowntree Mackintosh in the late 80's.
There was talk of them changimng the wrappers to match all the other countries but it seems to have never happened. Ironicaly, our wrappers were much like this before Nestle altered them back in the 90's (the top 2 in the pic). Heres a nice snapshot!
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/8446094.KitKat___s_75th_anniversary_heralded/
anyone else think Nestle UK should revert back to the simpler design? I do!
Wicked post Jim. You should try get some more kit kats from Europe to see if they are any different. I know they make them in germany and Italy etc. Just look on their website mate and change the end of it to the country code (Germany www.nestle.de etc). I want to see more of these comparisons if you are up to doing them mate.
Very interesting to read your take on these. My palate for chocolate isn't as developed as yours, but I may try to do a side by side myself at some point..you've got me curious to see if I can discern between the two.
Really enjoyed the post Jim as I'm a fan of trying other countries' versions of the choc bars we know & love too! I sampled the Ozzie version of a KitKat when I was last there - was a bit too sugary for me. Also tried Indian Dairy Milk when I went to Delhi & it was just awful! I was told that the chocolate composition is so different out there because of something to do with the chocolate having to be able to withstand the warmer temperature! Whatever the case, it made me appreciate our chocolate even more ;) x
Great review Jimbo. It was pretty inevitable you were gonna say you liked your own countries one better but all your reasons sound well fair.
I was just about to hit the published button when I remembered you did a similar thing with the aussie carnation of the caramel chunky didn't you.
Im a total kit kat fanatic and I couldn't find one for love nor money when I went on holiday to florida last year. I think its a possibility that they only do them in certain parts of the states because I looked all over the place.
I'm going to have to go out and buy myself a Kit Kat now.
Lol I always find that whenever I read your reviews on things I feel like eating whatever it is, even if I don't really like it lol. Great review man.
How the hell do you make a Kit Kat EXTRA CRISPY .... that sounds so so stupid.
Lol so you can seperate how good a US four finger is from a US Chunky, yet you can't do the same for the UK bars?
Come one Jim you know the Chunkys are vastly superior to the thin fingers. Chunkys ftw man.
If you want to be completely thorough you need to try the Canadian version (made by Nestle btw).
Hello, an American here.
In response to Richard, Kit Kats are not rare at all. They normally go for around 89 cents, or for 49 cents when they are on sale. So they are the same price as a normal Hersheys bar.
We only get milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and the extra crispy ones (which is not called "Chunky" because chunky is a Nestle thing, not Hersheys). Though I bought a caramel one-finger bar a few years ago and they have orange-colored fun-sized Kit Kats for Halloween and mint ones for Christmas.
Also, I've always hated the Hersheys Kit Kats, but I love the Nestle Kit Kats, especially the toffee one from Canada and many of the Japanese ones.
Apologies if I'm being really dumb or it's been explained but I still don't get why Nestle don't make this in America instead of Hershey?
Nestle can't make as much money as they would do if they made it themselves. Why would you go to all the trouble of having a different company make it when they could 1) Ship them in from a different country or 2) Just produce them themselves.
This is like the ultimate thing I would ever want to see happen to the Kit Kat.I absolutely hate Hersheys chocolate. I seriously can't stand the stuff. It would be so depressing if they started making them for England to. I don't even want to think of the possibility of this happening.
Sweet comparison Jim. I was all ready to e-mail you about your 'mistake' but then I read the post lol.
I don't agree with what people are saying about the wrappers. I think they look old and unfashionable.
Have you got any other countries KKs to test? You should get your readers from around the globe to send in their entries.
Hi All,
It's good to see that most of you enjoyed the comparison. I will take onboard what you guys say about trying to get some more Kit Kats from different countries.
I think a lot of them in Europe might be produced in the same places but we can but see :D It would be good hearing from any readers in different countries as to whether your own countries Kit Kats are produced there or imported in.
Questions/Comments ...
* Golden - Indeed blind taste testing would have been the best, this obviously wasn't an option for me mind. I do that quite often when I use my family as my testing panel.
* Rachel - We have had white chocolate Kit Kats in the past. I'm sure it wont be that long before we get them back.
* Robert/Steven - As far as I know this is their entire range chap. Its more limited than ours, certainly more so than the Japanese.
* Nigel - Haha you did at least get the United result spot on. 4-0 was flattering to say the least. Next weeks game should be a great contest. You guys have nothing to lose so I expect a free flowing, open game. You aren't wrong about the carling cup final chap. I thought it was the best final of any competition I have seen for years.
* Kev - I have no idea, lets just say I have reviewed alot of different Kit Kats :D
* Anon - My old man did these for me. He is a lot better taking photos of these things than I am. You think they look better then?
* Stacey/Mysterio - You shouldn't be so silly guys. Some people might take offense to those sweeping generalisations.
* Jordan - I don't know why they don't brand them more clearly. Perhaps it is in the licencing agreement that they don't.
* Katie - I'm sorry but I just don't have an answer for you guys. I have no idea why they don't just make them for themselves. There will be a reason of course - I just don't know it unfortunately.
EDIT: See what Alan has put!
* Duncan - A Kit Kat league table hey? That might be an interesting feature to do at some point. Hold that thought :D
* Lisa - No Snickers PB Squared yet I'm afraid. I'm still trying to get hold of one to try.
* Hazel - A Kit Kat label should be easier enough to integrate. Apologies you are finding it hard to navigate.
* Fran - I think that would be an awesome idea. A Reese's Kit Kat would be top of my wishlist thats for sure. You should write to Hershey and tell them to do it :D
* Justin - See what I said above. The old man did these photos. I think they look pretty cool myself.
* Ashley - I have no clue where Hershey produce these. I don't think it is one of the products that gets produced in Mexico. You are better off asking Cybele at Candyblog that sort of thing. She knows it all :D
* Rog - A winner of the ChocolateMission? I still think we are a way off of that :D
* Paul - That is a very good point. It could be down to the milk, cocoa source ... all sorts. Like you say, if you are more used to chocolate from one place you might easily think the opposite to what I have concluded.
* Zara - Nice find. I guess there is only one way for me to find out.
* Matt - That is a great suggestion. I will see if any of them are up for the challenge.
* Phil - When do you think they stopped doing white chocolate Kit Kats in this country chap? I would hazard a guess that it was around mid 2000s. I remember seeing them in the supermarket two fingers but never any other format.
* Alan - Wow cheers for the information chap. Where did you find all that out? I say they should keep the packaging the same myself. It is sort of the only thing that is letting people know that they aren't the usual Nestle ones. It's funny that Nestle haven't reigned back in their licence since the takeover. There must be some over complicated law stuff that is stopping them doing so.
* Roddy - I would love to see what you make of the comparison chap. Make sure you make time for it between your ice cream reviews :D
* Roxy - Indian Dairy Milk? That is something I will have to try. As you can tell I do enjoy doing these comparisons between the countries. It is surprising how the quality varies from different countries sometimes.
* Andy - Read the review and you will find out why haha :D
* Lauren - It's great to hear from an American so thanks for adding your views and answering some of the questions. It's great to hear that you also think that the Nestle ones are superior. Believe it or not people but I don't have a preference of one country over another.
* Peter - Please see what Alan has put.
* Tom - I don't have any other Kit Kats to compare for the minute but it is something I am working on.
Thanks again for the comments people. If you have any more thoughts then please feel free to share them. The more opinions we get, the fairer the comparison.
JIM
* Noted Requests:
Japanese Chunky - Kim
Snickers Squared - Lisa
Kit Kat Label - Hazel
It should be another one of your mini chocolate missions to find the best kit kat in the world.
I will have a look later to see if we get a different one in Ireland for you. I still have some relatives over there.
@Alan Lol you know more about chocolate than Jim does half the time. Do you work in the industry or something?
I had my first try of the dark chocolate kit kat we now get and I couldn't tell the difference between the old and new.
I think Nestle might be playing a smart game with their marketing. They will get a big spike in sales by just changing the wording and look of their wrapper. It's pretty clever when you think about it.
@Nick I wish I did lol I do take an interest though and started collecting chocolate and confectionary wrappers and related items (including old bars of chocolate!)as I love the art and graphic work on them and the sense of history etc etc. so i tend to read up around thema all. Ive got a book called 'Sweet Memnories' by Robert Opie - he founded the Brands and history museum in London - and its really interesting as it has the history of chocolate and brands etc!
Seeing the Kit Kats from around the world is a great idea. They might not vary that much but if anyone is going to be able to tell the difference it's you Jim.
I look forward to the next review already :)
Jim sorry to be off topic but have you seen that there are new Cadbury Fingers out? They are called toffee crunch. Please review them when you can mate.
A kit kat + a cup of tea + a magazine.
Those three things make the best breaks at work. Oh look at the time ;) 3pm time for a break I think lol.
With the abundance of KitKat reviews you've done I automatically thought you'd already covered these American ones. As I've said recently, you just can't beat a good old KitKat and it's good to see that despite being made by a different company, there's really not much difference and Herhsey's haven't completely ruined a classic. It's a shame that the white chocolate one was so sweet, I'd quite like to see a white chocolate one here as something different to the standard dark, mint and orange options. It's also about time we varied up our Chunky to include limited edition favours, even if the took back the peanut butter as LE I'd be happy. Not sure if I'm keen on the snazzier wrappers, they'd aare nice but I'm used to our traditional, plain red and white. Thanks for bringing us the review.
Eoin - That would be very nice of you. I think they might just be the same as the English ones though.
Chris - You couldn't tell the difference? It's not big but they definitely are.
David - I have seen them but not bought them yet. I will see what I can do chap.
Lucy - Replace the tea with a coffee and I agree with you :D
Ria - Indeed Hershey have far from ruined the Kit Kat that some might thought they might. I think your limited edition idea for the chunky is fantastic. It would be a good way to keep some excitement in the range wouldn't it. I like limited edition as long as they don't replace any of the core offerings. Its always nice to get new flavours isnt it.
Thanks everyone
JIM
@Jim - I'm not sure to be honest. I think the Chunky disappeared before 2004, and there was a 4 finger version out in 2005. The 2 finger multipacks seemed to be on and off until about 2006-2007.
The closest thing I have ever had to a white choc Kit Kat was the carramac one. God I wish they still made it.
They recently opened a Nestle factory in Dubai... would be interested to see what you think of them made here.. KK Chunky my favourite... not keen on the other flavours or styles.. JMHO! Let me know if you haven't tried them and I can send you one (or 2)
Cheers,
Fiona
They recently opened a Nestle factory in Dubai... would be interested to see what you think of them made here.. KK Chunky my favourite... not keen on the other flavours or styles.. JMHO! Let me know if you haven't tried them and I can send you one (or 2)
Cheers,
Fiona
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