Nestle says KitKat sales in Japan have risen 50% between 2010 and 2016, and this August the company opened its first new manufacturing plant in Japan in 26 years to keep up with local demand. The company develops 20 new flavors every year, and replaces flavors on convenience store shelves every two months. “That’s how the cycle has been ever since strawberry,” Maki said.
New KitKat varieties, Maki said, take about six months to develop, from idea to shelf, which makes failures all the more disappointing. One of Maki’s greatest failures came about eight years ago — an assortment of cola- and lemonade-flavored KitKats. In 2009, “sports drink,” a citrusy concoction, also fell flat.
This August, KitKat released a “cough drop” flavor in support of a Japanese soccer team, assuming that fans would cheer till they were hoarse. Instead, the flavor left snackers, even those with scratchy throats, scratching their heads.
