Nestle makes KitKat Gold a permanent flavour after being inundated with demand
It was a world first for the humble KitKat. Now, Nestle has made a decision to meet unprecedented demand from its Australian customers.
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Exclusive: It was the “KitKat gold rush” Nestle never expected.
The company’s limited edition KitKat Gold block literally flew off supermarket shelves after it was launched six months ago.
The new flavour, which was a world first, forced them to put workers on extra shifts just to keep up with demand.
Some fans of the chocolate even went as far as selling the blocks on eBay for up to $200 when the chocolate was first released.
Today, there are multiple KitKat Gold blocks still being sold on eBay for close to $100.
Now, after such widespread interest, Nestle has decided to make KitKat Gold a permanent flavour in Australia.
The flavour, which contains the famous chocolate’s crisp wafer fingers covered in a new, creamy golden white, caramelised chocolate, has been so successful that it will also be exported to New Zealand, Singapore and the Philippines.
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Nestle Corporate Affairs spokeswoman Margaret Stuart told News Corp sales for KitKat Gold were three times more than any other KitKat flavour currently being sold in Australia.
“The frenzy over this product was something we hadn’t seen before,” she said.
“What we sold was way above our expectations. The face we are exporting it too is great for Australia and for our factory.”
Ms Stuart said they were producing 320 large KitKat Gold blocks a minute, which equates to 19,200 an hour.
“Our people worked around the clock to meet the peak demand and we had to call on our suppliers for extra ingredients,” she said.
“We also had to adjust our production schedule to meet the increased demand.”
The KitKat Gold has been seen as sweet-toothed fans’ answer to Cadbury’s Caramilk, which was discontinued last year.
Ms Stuart said Nestle definitely got pick-up in sales from those who loved the Caramilk block.
“For those who love the caramel flavour with a creamy golden chocolate, this just hit the mark,” she said.
“When launching a limited edition product you don’t expect to have difficulty in keeping up with demand, but we’re just thrilled people love it.”
The KitKat Gold flavour took three months to develop before it was released in August last year.