Santa-shaped KitKats?! What more could you need for this holiday season?

You may know Japanese KitKats for having a myriad of different flavors, some of which are regional or limited-edition. But did you know they also come out with adorable Santa-shaped KitKats in the winter that are insanely popular? Last year, they sold out within a week!

This year they came out on November 6 and are being sold in cute holiday-themed tins. Nestle sent us some samples, so let us tell you why they’re worth going on the hunt for.

The KitKat Holiday Santas are the same delicious wafer chocolate you know and love, simply shaped like Santa. They come individually packaged in packs of six, seven, and 12, with six different designs, five of which feature speech bubbles including “Enjoy!” and “For you!” The assortment is random, so you never know which package designs you’re going to get.

But of course, the packaging is not what you buy them for. Just look at how cute the Santa-shaped chocolate is inside! It’s smiling!!

These are ever so slightly different from a typical KitKat, since, to make the shape of the Santa, the chocolate is a bit thicker in some spots. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy the sweetness of the chocolate, so if you’re a chocoholic, you’ll love it!

These Santas come in three different package options, including a brand new tin design called the KitKat Holiday Santa: Santa Can, which contains seven pieces and sells for 1,512 yen (US$9.99). It’s a tin designed to look like a house painted with the trademark bright red color of the chocolate bar, in front of which sits a KitKat Santa on snow-covered ground. In keeping with the holiday theme, the windows and doors of the house are green, and across from the KitKat Santa stands a Christmas tree topped with a star and made up of the words “Have happy holidays with KitKat.”

We especially like the design on the lid, which is painted to look like a green chimney and a snow-covered roof with red footprints on top. It’s playful, fun, and full of holiday spirit.

On the back are more festively-decorated windows with what looked like a sleigh full of presents. We couldn’t see everything because the nutritional content sticker was pasted square in the middle of it. We could only hope the sticker would come off cleanly so we could reuse the tin…

And it did! It pulled off easily, unveiling a cute reindeer harnessed to the sled and ready to deliver gifts to children around the world. There wasn’t even any sticky residue, so we could use the can right away.

If you don’t care about the tin, the KitKat Holiday Santas also come in regular packs of six (for 540 yen) and 12 (for 1,080 yen). But the thing to be careful of is that the different packages are sold at different locations. You can find the Santa Can and the six-pack at convenience stores and variety shops as well as in KitKat stores, but the 12-pack (called the “Share Bag”) is only available at souvenir shops at airports and at KitKat Chocolatories and KitKat Gift Shops. Don’t despair if you don’t have any of those near you, though; you can also buy it online through the Nestle Japan Online Shop.

In any case, these are adorable, festive chocolates to share with friends, to give as a gift, to bring when visiting someone’s home (in lieu of some other great but less festive options), or to serve at a holiday party, so definitely pick some up this holiday season!

Images © SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]