Miss Kit Kat Chunky? Buttermilk's New Vegan Bar Could Be Just What You Need

Vegan chocolate brand Buttermilk has launched a new dairy-free chocolate bar, and it could just fill that Kit Kat Chunky-shaped hole in your life.

The Buttermilk Choccy Wafer Bar features plant-based “milk” chocolate and a gluten-free wafer center, both made with rice flour, with a distinctive rectangular shape.

The bar is the latest in Buttermilk’s range of chocolate products reminiscent of classic designs but made with a plant-based recipe. Other products include Caramel Nougat, Honeycomb Blast, Peanut Nougat, Choccy Caramel, Coconut, and the second-newest addition, a Double Choccy Snack Bar in the style of a Cadbury’s Double Decker.

A Buttermilk vegan chocolate bar, which resembles a Kit Kat Chunky — Buttermilk Buttermilk makes a range of vegan chocolate bars

Nestlé first launched its iconic Kit Kat Chunky in the UK in 1999 and sold the product as the “Big Cat” or Kit Kat Extra Crispy in the US. It featured one large wafer and thick chocolate compared to the lighter, thinner, four-fingered Kit Kat classic.

Buttermilk’s Choccy Wafer Bar is the closest vegan product yet to the Kit Kat Chunky.

Nestlé’s vegan Kit Kat

Kit Kat has not yet launched a vegan version of its chunky bar, but plant-based Kit Kat classics are now widely available after an initial launch in 2021 and relaunch in 2022.

The brand introduced its first vegan bar after two years in production, made with “100 percent sustainable cocoa” and with an 18 percent smaller carbon footprint than the original.

The vegan Kit Kat has also been widely praised by consumers for its similarity to the dairy version. Like Buttermilk’s Choccy Wafer, the vegan Kit Kat uses rice milk for the chocolate, and Louise Barret, the head of Nestlé’s Confectionery Product Technology Center, has previously noted that taste was a “key factor” in developing the bar.

Despite its plant-based Kit Kat recipe, Nestle remains a controversial choice for vegans. In 2021, more than a quarter of Plant Based News readers said they would not be purchasing the corporation’s chocolate bar.

Buttermilk’s Choccy Wafer Bar is available now at Sainsbury’s stores and online for £1.70.