Nestlé plans Kit Kat White Dream spoiler

Nestlé Rowntree is to challenge Cadbury in the white chocolate market next year with the launch of a white chocolate version of Kit Kat Chunky.

Kit Kat Chunky White will be in the shops from next March, backed with radio ads from J Walter Thompson. It will compete with Cadbury’s new white chocolate bar, Dream, which will be supported by a £6m marketing spend when it is launched in January.

Dream is already available in Australia and New Zealand, where it has been a huge success (MW November 29).

However Nestlé’s new bar is likely to offer stiff opposition. Kit Kat Chunky was the success story of 1999, with UK sales of about 250 million bars in the first year. The company already dominates the white chocolate market with Milkybar.

Nestlé plans a limited edition five-finger Kit Kat bar at the same time as Chunky White and says these launches are “the tip of the iceberg of Kit Kat activity next year”.

Nestlé is also understood to be launching Little Rolos.