If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This is the message KitKat lovers in the UK are telling Nestle after the company decided to cut the sugar content in its iconic formula by 10 per cent.
The company has made the change in a bid make the chocolate treat healthier to curb increasing pressure from governments over the obesity crisis. The current KitKat contains 213 calories but the new version, which will hit UK supermarket shelves from next week, has only 209 calories.
So is a move like this about to make its way to Australia? Well, it is the company’s global commitment to reduce sugar across all its products each year until 2020, and they’ve invested in research to make this a reality without losing consumers.
In December 2016 Nestle Global’s Chief Technology Officer Stefan Catsicas told Bloomberg the company had found a way to cut sugar content by 40 per cent, without affecting taste, and would be looking to introduce this healthier formula across the Nestle portfolio in the coming years. However, the company understands it needs to make this change gradually, so as not to upset consumers.
“We want people to get used to a different taste, a taste that would be more natural,” Mr Catsicas said.
Don’t get too stressed though KitKat lovers as Nestle Australia reassures its fans that not only is the Aussie KitKat recipe different to that of its UK counterpart, there are definitely no plans to compromise taste.
“In Australia we’ve made changes in many our product categories to improve their nutritional profile, and in confectionery, to reduce the impact of discretionary food on the overall diet. We’ll continue to invest in research into how we can deliver great taste and better nutrition,” a Nestle spokesperson told Now To Love. “But there’s no way we would compromise taste to do that – especially in confectionery!”
This is the first time the UK formula has changed since WWII, when a milk shortage altered the recipe.
Just last year Arnott’s received major backlash when it meddled with the iconic recipe for its Shapes varieties. Could a repeat be on the cards for Nestle UK? Only time will tell, but for now have a break…
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