How 8 Million Bars of Kit Kat is Made in a Factory
Included in the ranks of the world’s most iconic chocolate bars is the crispy wafer and smooth coating of chocolate within Kit Kat, really making this a candy irresistible to many consumers worldwide.
Behind that easily-wish-for and ordinary red package is really quite interesting information about tradition, innovation, and accuracy in processing it.
Learn here how the world’s Kit Kats start from a far-off region: West Africa, and end at a modern-day packaging line on its high-speed facility.
The Origins of Chocolate: From Cocoa Fields to Beans
Kit Kat is made from a far-flung place called West Africa, famous for fertile and fertile lands. The origin of chocolates comes from the pods under the sun shining hot under the tropical heaven. They usually get ripe by July.
It takes much labor since farmers pick very carefully only the ripe ones, in which the beans are intact, rather than all, so as not to waste some since they need high skills and details in the whole process.
During the harvesting season, the pods are split open to reveal the beans. And the best of nature is in every bean; they have a flavor and aroma.
Beans are spread all over the huge sun-drying mats. They take eight days to dry under the sun, without any added heat, dries them out that much that hardens their shell and prevents the moisture content while locking in the very unique flavor of chocolate.
Once all the beans are dry, they then go through sternumerical quality checks to ensure that only the best of their kind goes to production.
This includes checks on the moisture content to avoid mold, observing the size and texture, and lastly, the scent test that is always done by experienced workers, ensuring each bean has that characteristic smell of cocoa.
The journey of Cocoa Beans to the Factory
Selected beans are taken to a high-tech plant for processing. On arrival, the beans are subjected to thorough cleaning for dirt and dust. The beans are carried on massive conveyor systems into a designed rotating drum.
As soon as the drum begins to rotate, beans move around and rub off their outer skins. At the same time, the strong air jets blow away the dust and leftover skins and clean the beans to a spotless state.
Then, through the “fire challenge,” an essential roasting process that tends to reveal their hidden flavors of the beans. Much like coffee beans, cocoa beans also need very critical temperature control in roasting so that it hits the right level at the right time.
It is the best-kept secret of chocolate manufacturers because of how big the effects of small changes are with regard to the taste in the chocolates.
The rich aroma is then allowed to emanate from the beans as they go through grinding in a massive crusher that smushes them down into a luscious cocoa paste after roasting.
And it is time now to have this chocolate butter squeezed out with a hydraulic press, leaving pure cake to be weighed at approximately 7 kilograms and ground-up to be pounded into cakes which become fine and fluffy white so that the essence will become above all else indeed a ‘chocolatory’ Kit Kats signature-recognized flavor mix.
Chocolate Making Process
It is in this concoction that, according to Nestle, sugar, milk powder, pure cocoa butter, and emulsifiers would give the mixture of ingredients the silkiest possible, chocolate-like coating similar to those typical Kit Kats.
Such ingredients mixed in exact proportion-and the recipe itself is a mystery known only within Nestlé. The mixture will be churned in a supermachine so that it gradually melts into one thick, silky chocolate mass.
Conching” is the refining process that grinds chocolate particles into very fine sizes. This would make sure it melts in the mouth and does not dissolve on the tongue.
The longer it is conched, the more it produces a creamy and silky texture to the chocolate.
The liquid chocolate is then tempered. Tempering is the process where chocolate is not allowed to crystallize. It gives Kit Kat a smooth, shiny appearance that can be considered a very attractive and irresistible treat.
Preparation of the layers of wafer:
While the chocolate coating is the soul of Kit Kat, its heart is really in the crispy wafer layers. The journey to the creation of these layers is not less meticulous.
It begins with simple ingredients: refined wheat flour, water, sugar, vegetable fats, and a pinch of salt. Their light and crispy texture has their secret in an added leavening agent.
All the ingredients come together in a huge mixer until the batter is pretty smooth and thick. The batter is then extruded through very precise nozzles into rectangular molds so that the batter comes out of it evenly on both sides.
It gets baked for just 30 seconds at an extreme temperature of 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Extreme heat will cook the batter right away. It will instantly cook the wafer and lock in the flavor within.
The baked wafers are transferred to a cooling area where cool air streams are slowly cooled down. This is very important because it allows the wafers to be crispy, allowing the chocolate to stick well onto it.
The Chocolate Filling: A Unique Blend
One of the special qualities of Kit Kat is that it has an inner chocolate filling for the union of the wafers’ layers.
Ironically, this filling came from the fine powder created through grinding defective Kit Kat bars together with other components to create chocolate cream a bit thinner than the actual outer layering of the bar.
This creates a hold onto the wafers so as not to become soggy in the filling.
The Assembly: Wafer Meets Chocolate
Kit Kat production would not be the same without the assembly process where the crispy wafer and the rich chocolate are brought together.
Wafers are lined up neatly on a conveyor belt, passed under a chocolate waterfall. Streams of liquid chocolate are then poured over the wafers, covering each inch with great precision.
Three layers of chocolates were placed down to ensure the right quantity was layer down. A layer of wafers was used to top it for the final output.
Precise cutting and final touch
The already coated bars pass over a conveyor belt, where some sharp blades, in the nanosecond, would cut them uniformly.
It happens with speed and accuracy, allowing the neatly sized Kit Kats we all are familiar with to come out.
After 15 hours of intense mixing, roasting, and assembling, the Kit Kats are now ready. With high-speed machines that can fill molds full of chocolate, insert wafers, the factory can produce over 200,000 bars per day.
Quality Control and Packaging
Quality is also tested on all the Kit Kats before shipping out to the shops for sale. The blemished Kit Kat bars, for example,
have air pockets and cracks but are not sold; instead, they are crushed and recycled to reformulate the chocolate fillings that are part of other Kit Kats.
From here, the bars are transferred into the packaging line, where high-speed robotic arms wrap them in shiny foil and cover them with the red wrapper.
In these last stages, the bars are prepared and shipped off to supermarkets all over the globe.
A Global Treat
As many as 8 million bars leave the Kit Kat factory every day, then distributed to warehouses and retailers around the world. Trucks full of the bars haul them to customers, spreading a taste of happiness at every bite.
The Legacy of Kit Kat
Since its inception, Kit Kat has emerged as one of the most popular candy brands globally due to its unique fusion of chocolate and wafer.
Its slogan, “Have a break, have a Kit Kat,” launched in 1958 is widely used by consumers and remains potent. It enables consumers to pause and indulge, thus making Kit Kat synonymous with happiness and warmth.
Kit Kat is a classic proof of the science and art involved in making chocolate-from the plantations of West Africa to the hands of the earth’s cocoa-loving end.
The next time you break open a Kit Kat, remember the elaborate journey it has travelled for your benefit.
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