Post by @financefunfacts

The #1 candy in Japan is KitKats, because Nestle created 300+ flavors to tap into the Japanese tradition of "Omiyage" (gift giving) In Japan, 2012 was the year that KitKats overtook Meiji to become the best-selling chocolate nationwide. How KitKats, originally invented in Britain and very popular in the US, swept through Japan is a masterpiece in marketing and understanding the audience. The story goes that Nestle, which is the distributor of KitKats in Japan, wanted to drive up sales. They saw an opportunity in the Japanese tradition of Omiyage, which means gift giving, but especially bringing back a snack or edible souvenirs from when you travel to different places. In 2000, Nestle introduced a strawberry flavored Kit Kat in Hokkaido and very serendipitously it was just at the same time as the start of the strawberry season. It did really well. So from there, Nestle rolled out a kaleidoscope of flavors, giving each city or prefecture their own unique KitKat. For example, Okinawa is famous for its purple sweet potatoes, so tourists will find Kit Kats of that flavor in stores there. In Kyoto, it's Roasted Green Tea. In Kagoshima, it's Ocean Salt. In Nara, it's Sakura Masamune Daiginjo Sake. In Shizuoka, it's Wasabi. This marketing strategy injected a sense of artificial scarcity and turned KitKats into a perishable collectible, and that’s how in 2012, KitKats overtook Meiji to become the best selling chocolate nationwide, and in 2014, KitKats became the #1 candy or confectionary nationwide. Since the year 2000, there have been more than 300 limited-edition or regional flavors of Kit Kat. $NSRGY $HSY #KitKat #KitKats #Japan #Omiyage #Nestle #marketing #chocolate #snacks #candy #confectionery #JapaneseCulture #foodlore #collectible #Hokkaido #Shizuoka #Meiji #distributor