Nestl Rowntree is launching a giant, single-finger version of its top-selling chocolate bar KitKat.

Snack attack: Ben Pearman, brand manager for KitKat, shows off the new chunky bar. Picture by Garry Atkinson

The York confectioners want to tap into the lucrative youth market with KitKat Chunky, the biggest ever development in the history of the flagship brand.

Teenagers tend to turn away from the traditional foil-wrapped snack bar, which was first sold more than 60 years ago before the war. Nestl feels the chunky bar will match youngsters' more hectic lifestyles, which often leave little time to eat.

"It's good for eating with one hand while on the move," said KitKat brand manager Ben Pearman.

UK sales of KitKat are already worth over £220 million a year - more than any other confectionery product - and the new version could take total sales soaring towards the quarter of a billion pounds mark.

Chunky will be sold in a metalised film wrapper at a cost of 30p, slightly more than the lighter four-finger KitKat which will remain on sale.

Mr Pearman says the bar is the result of two years of extensive market research, including three waves of testing with panels of consumers across the country dominated by teenagers.

The product was constantly refined in response to the panels' verdicts.

Nestl wanted a chocolate that would appeal to consumers, particularly younger people, who might not normally buy KitKats. It wanted to avoid people simply switching from traditional KitKats to the Chunky, which would leave total sales no higher.

The youthful image will be promoted in a multi-million pound TV advertising campaign targeted at youngsters, and free samples will be given away at youth-orientated events this summer.

Adverts will be carried in phone boxes, which research has shown are used heavily by teenagers.

The initial response from the retail trade to the new product, which will be launched next month, has been "fantastic," said Mr Pearman.

The Chunkys will be produced 24 hours a day at the KitKat Number 3 plant in York, where specially-adapted machinery has been installed. It will not mean any extra jobs, but should help maintain existing employment at York's biggest employer.

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