the year 2003 was a turning point for the kit kat bar as well as the confectionery industry in general. the popularity of low carb diets, and the push to healthier eating stifled sales growth in many parts of the world. in addition, fierce competition from cadbury's newly formed dairy milk superbrand also contributed to kit kat sales decreasing considerably in its home market of the uk, and threatened to depose it from its no.1 position. the solution adopted by nestlé and others was to increase dramatically the number of new and unique variations of their confections and market them as limited or special editions, usually only available for a few months at a time so as not lose sales of their standard products. the strategy initially reversed the decline of the kit kat and has been adopted worldwide by nestlé, hershey, mars, and others with similar success.