The marriage of two scrumptious fan-favorite products, Biscoff and KitKat, birthed the delicious hybrid of chocolate filled KitKat wafers with a surprise of a generous layer of creamy Lotus Biscoff spread. YUM!
The961 got in touch with the creator of this epic and extremely limited Biscoff KitKat, and guess what, she’s Lebanese!
Her name is Lara Inja and she’s a 25-year-old Lebanese who loves the sun, the beach, and traveling. “I’ve been to over 25 countries and don’t plan to stop any time soon!” Lara told us.
She grew up on Bliss Street where she attended International College, Beirut (IC) then graduated from the American University of Beirut (AUB).
After graduation, Lara joined Nestle as her first employer. She began in sales in Qatar and then moved into marketing in confectionery where she is now a brand manager handling KitKat Minis.
She now lives in Dubai and is working for the brand, which is where she came up with this sweet combo! “I started working in the confectionery department, which is a super fun business unit that’s really all about innovating and creating little smiles,” she explains.
“I am lucky to be part of a team called The Chocolatiers who spend their days trying to think about the next big thing in chocolate!”
It sounds like the best job in the world. Lara has witnessed the great variations of KitKat Mini Moments come to life, such as Cookies & Cream, hazelnut, mocha, caramel, and milk chocolate to the KitKat Mini Moments desserts and many many more delicious innovations.
“KitKat has always been very innovative and the pioneering chocolate brand that continuously comes up with cool new flavors,” Lara says, “So our challenge is always, what’s next?”
“As a team, we are given a lot of freedom to explore and pitch new ideas as long as they are based on proper consumer insight and facts.”
“Moreover, we are very lucky to have a factory here in the UAE where we produce our KitKats, so we have the luxury of working very closely with our factory team to take us from ideation stage to concept stage where we can experiment and bring our ideas to life!”
Lara Inja attributes this creation to the company culture that praises innovation, research, a great team with a desire to satisfy customers, and a sprinkle of some good old intuition.
“Intuitively, KitKat with Lotus Biscoff seemed to me like an obvious combination that we needed to try especially due to its popularity in out of home desserts,” she says.
“Having been an AUB student and raised on Bliss street, I was definitely very familiar with the late-night Tonino crepe delivery… It definitely involved its fair share of KitKat and Lotus Biscoff spread – it was a popular combination!”
“Then when I moved to the GCC,” Lara recounts, “it seemed that the Lotus Biscoff spread trend surpassed the Levant and was appreciated here as well.”
“We have finally decided to launch the KitKat Mini Moments with Lotus Biscoff in 2020.”
Lara expected it to go well but says, “I did not expect the conversation to go so viral so quickly and even beyond the MENA region before we even supported it. But very happy to see that!”
We asked Lara what she wanted the world to know and she responded, “Well…first things first, please stay at home! We owe it to the world.”
She added, “Intuition matters! If your gut is telling you that he cheated, then he probably did. If it’s telling you to have some Lotus in your KitKat, then obviously… And if your gut is telling you to Have a Break, Have a KitKat! (nailed it).”
Yes, she did indeed nail it!
