Japanese KitKats Are Replacing Plastic Packaging with Origami Paper | Hacker News Reader

Japanese KitKats Are Replacing Plastic Packaging with Origami Paper

mymodernmet.com

133 pointsblue_devil40 comments

KitKats always used to come with metal foil (not plasticised) and a paper covering. I remember making small squares out of that paper and making origami models.

http://www.heatspaceandlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/...

Is that the case in all markets? Japan, from all I hear, tends to wrap products in a lot of unnecessary plastic, so I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Japanese KitKats are wrapped with plastic to align with Japanese consumer expectation. Given that the article quotes a specific amount of plastic that Nestle is expecting to save though this substitution, I'm almost certain that their packaging is currently plastic.

This is my biggest problem with Asian bakeries. Everything's individually wrapped in plastic.

It's for some weird reason an Asian thing. Go to a bakery in China or Japan, buy 3 pieces of pastry, and you will walk away with 4 plastic bags.

It's especially annoying in Japan, as they also have super strict garbage policies and no possibility to dispose of things in public. That by itself is a great idea, if only they would stop giving me so much unnecessary garbage to carry around.

Someone previously mentioned on HN that the extra packaging is due to Japan's humidity.

Japanese humidity is a bit of nonsense. Places like Florida, India, Singapore, and Brazil all have much higher humidity.

Do pastries and candies go stale faster in those areas without the extra packaging, or is there a different motivation for the packaging?

The motivation is a Japanese fascination with order, perfection, and presentation... nothing to do with humidity.

Hmm, coming from Denmark, I don't find Japan particularly humid, and we certainly don't wrap bread or pastry products.

It would also be quite outrageous to make any generalizations about Chinese weather, considering just how big that particular pile of dirt it.

Japan has a strong gift culture, many things come wrapped in many layers for the purposes of gifting. I think plastic bags containing individually-wrapped-in-plastic items come from this idea: you can give someone a single item without worrying about contamination from unclean hands. Hi-chews are a good example of this.

I remember buying a few items at a department store in Japan and the clerk individually wrapped each item in paper, then wrapped all the items together in paper, then put it all in a paper bag.

They extensively use a 'heavy tissue'-like paper to wrap many items. A decorative plate I bought as a gift for my grandfather was wrapped in about 20 sheets of this paper. Great protection, but it did feel a little wasteful.

The worst part is most of this packaging is really high quality - I've reused paper bags and what not endlessly, it'd take ages for the stuff to fall apart. Mottainai.

When I was a young un, KitKats, Aeros, and all chocolate bars came in thin aluminium foil and a very thin paper wrapper, just like your KitKat pic. Foil was usually colour coded by flavour. 100% recyclable, even in the 70s.

Mars bars, Crunchies, and other bars were wrapped in greaseproof paper folded envelope style and sealed with gum. They were the right shape and weight for small paper aeroplanes for annoying teachers. :)

There was a selection of playground origami models traditional for the various other size sweetie and choc wrappers that were mainly greaseproof or waxed paper.

Sony's Clie PDAs back in early–mid-2000s came with a CD in a paper tray-package. It was a thin box of sturdy paper, the size of a ‘jewel’ case, but from a side of it slid out a tray, also of paper, with the disc on it. And it didn't come out all the way but was held by something inside. I realized then that Japan treats its papercraft seriously.

Does anyone have any data on when candy bars started switching to plastic from the foil and gloss paper method? I'm 25 and have some hold outs on the very edge of my memory.

I've never been one to eat many candy bars, but I seem to recall the transition generally being about fifteen years ago.

The change was to "flow wrapping", and its mostly about the speed on the production line.

But there's an interesting piece on the change here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-is-chocolate-rarely-w_b_4...

I once bought a small Meiji chocolate with absolutely brilliant carton packaging. It looks like this:

https://www.oyatsujiten.com/x/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/...

The part where it says "open" can be opened and closed many times with a satisfying snap into place. Definitely recommend grabbing one if you see it somewhere.

So Cool! I am envious of all the varieties of Kit Kat available in Japan. Take that, Plastic Vortex in the Pacific!

slightly off topic, the black kitkat, those are dark chocolate kitkats?

The green packaged one is for sale now here, but now i learned there is a black one. (which they dont sell at our local supermarkets)

Maybe someone on HN can get their hands on one and report back? Could be some kind of "oiled" paper, not sure.

Japan has dozens or maybe even hundreds of different Kit Kat flavors that cycle into and out of production over the seasons.

I just found sweet potato and chestnut flavored versions on Amazon.

Here's a link to buy them: https://www.amazon.com/Nestle-KitKat-Dark-Chocolate-Flavor/d...

Yes, it’s a dark chocolate version. You can often find them in Japanese/Asian supermarkets if there is one near you. They’re pretty good.

its fine if the product is superior (paper straws aren't to plastic ones). i wonder how this will handle melted chocolates. I guess as long as it does degrade when that happens.

All candy used to be wrapped in paper, including Kit Kats. They will be fine.

I remember them being wrapped in foil and the foil was wrapped in paper. The paper would not have been in contact with the chocolate.

What's wrong with paper straws? I've found they can't really be reused, but that's the point, as most plastic straws are used once and thrown away.

What makes paper "origami paper"?

Tried to find some source in Japanese - it seems like it's just ordinary paper actually:

https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASM8144JVM81PLFA006.html

Also will initially be applied to only 30% of the Kit Kats sold in Japan (5 types), they will change the packaging for the rest by 2022.

origami paper... and microplastics?

This is only popular here in HN because of japan. A lot of countries have used non-plastic paper for ages. But the ah always so mysterious japan makes it seem so interesting.

It really doesn't seem necessary to rip on people for being interested in things.

Absolutely not, but it’s just that every single time it’s about japan even if it is not the first or the first country to do so. It’s the fetisishing of japan.

I don't think they're ripping on people. It's a fair point that this makes the front page because people on HN love stories about Japan.

Try searching HN for titles with "Japan" in them vs. for example, nearly any African country.

Yes people are generally interested in Japan, it's an interesting place.

This story is also interesting because: Nestle is a huge company KitKat is very popular within and outside of Japan Changing the wrapping from plastic to paper, for this product, in this volume, is a big deal.

If this link was for a similarly large market, meaning its environmental impact was similar, I would read it and be impressed, regardless of where it's from.

Yes Japan is fetishised by westerners but this story would still be interesting without it being related to Japan.

My point is that if this link was for a similarly large market, you wouldn’t read it and be impressed because you wouldn’t find it on HN.

The article’s content is almost pointless. It’s the Japan connection that gives it a huge boost here.

So weird that there’s more tech news from a country that has an enormous tech industry than from countries where people have to spend their time dealing with famine, tribal wars and preventable diseases.

HN in a nutshell lol.

Is that even an argument? HN is obsessed with Japan just because the search returns more results?

Maybe that's because Japan is more relevant when it comes to technology compared to African countries?

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