KitKat Ruby now being sold across Australia in new $2 block for a limited time

Sweet tooths will make a massive $10 saving on Nestle’s KitKat Ruby chocolate when it becomes available across Australia this week.

Exclusive: Sweet tooths will make a massive $10 saving on Nestle’s KitKat Ruby chocolate when it becomes available across Australia this week.

The world’s only new chocolate variety to be discovered in the last 80 years, which has a distinct pink hue, did cost an eye-watering $12 for just eight KitKat bars.

Until now, the expensive bars were only being exclusively sold through KitKat’s boutique Chocolatory store in Melbourne, where they are handcrafted and wrapped in a Black Label gift box.

But due to consumer demand, Nestle is bringing out a more affordable, limited edition KitKat Ruby block for the just $2 that consumers can get for a limited time.

Nestlé Oceania Corporate Affairs Manager Philippa Naylor told News Corp the new block will have four KitKat Ruby chocolate fingers in it and is being imported from Hamburg, Germany.

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Nestle's new limited edition of KitKat Ruby which will be available across Australia from May 1. Picture: Supplied

“The new four-finger bar that we’re launching is a similar size to a regular KitKat and it features the iconic crisp wafers and the intense berry-flavoured ruby chocolate but there are no other toppings on it that we used to have like meringue and dried raspberries,” she said.

“We’re really excited to be able to have it available so others in Australia can try it for themselves now.”

Ms Naylor said when they first launched their ruby KitKat, they only had access to a set amount that prevented them from producing larger quantities to sell to retail outlets.

“The ruby cocoa beans come from the Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil,” she said.

Nestle's new limited edition of KitKat Ruby. Picture: Supplied

“With the amount we have access to from overseas now, we think this new block could sell out in two to three months here.”

She said it could become a permanent flavour, but she couldn’t guarantee it.

“It would depend on its popularity and the availability of the ruby cocoa bean, which is now sold across 26 countries with KitKat,” she said.

“Nestle was the first company to have an exclusive deal with Swiss chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut to produce ruby chocolate commercially and there are a couple of other chocolate makers who have it, but they don’t have the access we do.”

A recent IBISWorld report titled Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacturing in Australia stated overall industry revenue is forecast to increase at 1.3 per cent annually over five years through 2022-23, to reach $6.1 billion.

Head chocolatier Connie Yuen enjoying her job tastes a bowl of liquid ruby chocolate at the Kit Kat Chocolatory in Melbourne Central. Picture: David Caird

But consumer preferences have increasingly favoured premium and healthier products over traditional chocolate and confectionery over the past five years.

“Campaigns promoting the importance of health and nutrition, coupled with rising concerns relating to obesity have weakened demand for industry products that are high in sugar or fat,” it stated.

“To combat these concerns, industry operators have extended their product ranges to include healthier options, such as dark chocolate and sugar-free gum. Consequently, dark chocolate products have grown as a proportion of industry revenue over the past five years, with consumers becoming increasingly aware of the health benefits of the antioxidants in cocoa.”

It also stated growing concerns regarding global cocoa supply are affecting the industry due to fears that demand for cocoa will outweigh supply over the next five years.

“Industry operators are increasingly working with suppliers that practise sustainable cocoa farming. In addition, more operators are working with suppliers that are registered under the fair-trade logo, or purchasing all raw materials from a single source.”

The new $2 KitKat Ruby block is coming into Woolworths from tomorrow.

Originally published as KitKat Ruby now being sold across Australia in new $2 block for a limited time