KitKat Chocolatory - Japanese Style KitKats Arrive in the UK

Date: 2020 January 01 20:26

Posted by Joe

While wandering around John Lewis we discovered KitKat Chocolatory. Apparently there had been a pop up shop earlier where you can make your own KitKats. Having experienced the premium KitKat Chocolatory before in Tokyo, we wanted to see how the UK version weighs up.

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We spent £7.50 (about $9.95 USD) on a box of Springtime in Japan as that seemed the most appropriate! This was one of the special editions available, which include flavours like Whisky and Ginger, Billionaire's Treasure and Gin and Tonic.





Nestlé have really gone to town with the packaging for this. The white section on the box is a separate sleeve with a pearl glitter effect.





Opening the box there's a little message inside, along with a bit of packing paper to protect the chocolate.





On removing the paper we were surprised to find a single KitKat. On the back of the box it states six crispy wafer fingers. The box was huge, so we were really expecting 6 bars of KitKats inside. Instead there is one single big bar made of six fingers. The box states that the KitKat is 70g (about 2.4 ounces).




The bar is wrapped in a thick plastic cover, along with a reusable sticker to peel and re-seal for later.







As you can see the chocolate is a lovely shade of cherry blossom pink Ruby Chocolate. This is couverture chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter compared to regular eating or baking chocolate. The gold is sparkly and makes it look lavish too.



On the underside of the bar there's some artwork resembling a cherry blossom branch, along with cherry flavoured pieces.



Slicing the KitKat Chocolatory you can clearly see that there's a generous amount of ruby chocolate. Throughout the bar there a bits of cherry flavoured pieces too.

But how do they taste?

The Springtime in Japan KitKat had a strong taste of cherry, that slowly fades as the taste of apple becomes more prominent. It's very fruity. The couverture chocolate takes it to the next level as it has a smooth mouth feel and nice silky texture. It melts nicely. The bits of cherry are good too.

In conclusion we have mixed feelings about the KitKat Chocolatory. We love that they've brought over this concept from Japan. Having visited a KitKat Chocolatory in Tokyo before we understand what they're aiming for. This does capture the spirit of the upmarket Japanese shops. However Nestlé you're competing with other upmarket brands. You don't expect luxury chocolate to contain so many ingredients and flavourings, normally upmarket chocolate's ingredients list is short and sweet (much like the chocolate itself). The inclusion of palm oil is also a concern. For £7.50 you could get a 70g (2.4 oz) bar of KitKat Chocolatory or for £6.50 you could get 120g (4.20 oz) of Hotel Chocolat. This is why KitKat Chocolatory fails as both cheap chocolate and a luxury brand.

You're really paying for an experience, remember that time when you got that fun KitKat?!

There are other ways to get fun KitKats. Get them from Japan!



Let's get some Japanese KitKats for comparison. These aren't Chocolatory premium grade, but regular raspberry mini share pack. You can get a bag for about £11 (about $14.50 USD) from all good suppliers of Japanese food.



It contains 12 individually wrapped KitKats. The whole bag of 12 weighs 135g (about 4.76 oz)



Each Bar is contains two fingers.



The Japanese mini KitKat is significantly smaller than the six fingered version.



While the Japanese bar contains a lot less chocolate, this is however a regular bar and not a luxury one like the Chocolatory. You can see there's a layer of dried raspberry in between the wafers.

The regular raspberry chocolate is a different beast, as there is less chocolate it's not as decadent as its upmarket Chocolatory cousin. It has a grittier mouth feel as it also has bits of raspberry in the chocolate itself.

Watch out for other Japanese flavours too. We're big fan of the matcha KitKats. We wonder if Nestlé UK will release these too?! It would be great if they'd release regional flavours for different parts of the UK. Hmmm Pork Pie KitKats for Melton Mowbray!