Nestle's Kit Kat World Domination Nearly Complete.

As any one who's shopped Mitsuwa (or browsed the wacky candy selection on j-list can attest) Nestle saves all the good stuff for Japan. Apparently they're up to 19 Kit Kat varieties there:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 01867.html

Mitsuwa usually has a couple in stock (Strawberry and Wine, IIRC from my last visit), although I've seen an odd favor or two pop up on occasion.

Due to a licensing issue, the Kit Kats available in the U.S. are made by Hershey's rather than Nestle's and are (to my mind) made using inferior chocolate. Canada is much more into Kit Kats (theirs are from Nestle) and there seems to be a wider variety of flavors available in that country; I just picked up a bunch of Kit Kat Extra Dark Chocolate and they're almost too bitter to enjoy.

I miss the dark chocolate-orange version!

Due to a licensing issue, the Kit Kats available in the U.S. are made by Hershey's rather than Nestle's

My recollection is that the original owner of Kit Kat, which was Rowntree in the UK, licensed the brand to Hershey under some perpetual ironclad type of license. Rowntree was later bought by Nestle and Nestle desparately wanted the license back, but could never come up with enough money for Hershey to give it back.

Are you saying Mitsuwa has the better chocolate ones, or are they strictly sold in other countries?

Nestlé is launching $17 bespoke KitKat bars where you can choose between 1,500 different flavor combinations, but you'll have to go to the UK to get them

https://www.insider.com/nestle-uk-bespo ... ons-2019-9

Looks like they're taking cues from Magnum's boutique concept. You can have their ice cream bars dipped in various coatings and then topped with a range of toppings like candied violets and toasted pistachios. For a lot less than $17.