This product was developed as a four-finger wafer crisp, initially launched in London and the South East in September 1935 as 'Rowntree’s Chocolate Crisp' and re-named two years later as KitKat Chocolate Crisp. It became KitKat after the Second World War. No one is sure where the name KitKat came from but it’s thought the famous KitKat Club of the 1920s had some influence.
Within two years of launch, KitKat was established as Rowntree’s leading product, a position that it has maintained ever since. During the war, KitKat was portrayed as a valuable wartime food and advertising described the brand as “What active people need”.