Rowntree’s created the KitKat bar before Nestlé acquired the company.
The product was launched in Britain in 1935 by Rowntree’s of York. It originally consisted of four fingers of chocolate-covered wafer, designed as a convenient break-time snack. The name and packaging changed during its early history, but the basic wafer-and-chocolate format became central to the brand.
Nestlé acquired Rowntree in 1988, bringing KitKat into Nestlé’s global confectionery portfolio. Hershey manufactures KitKat in the United States under licence, which can cause confusion about the bar’s original creator.
Rowntree’s itself had a long history in British confectionery. Its York factory produced several well-known sweets, and its merger into Nestlé explains why KitKat is usually identified as a Nestlé brand today even though the original bar was created by Rowntree’s.