It wasn't actually that exact amount. It was "about 12 tons", and somebody did the 12000 kg / 29g calculation and used the answer with way too many significant digits. Probably the reporter trying to make the 12 ton number relatable.
(You might object that KitKats usually weigh 40g. So these were probably the new KitKat Icon F1 chocolates, which weigh exactly 29g.)
My brain went here too. I'm guessing that one box missed the truck (either it was damaged during loading or had a manufacturing defect), so a full shipment is 3 x 3 x 23 x 2000. So my SWAG:
“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KITKAT — but it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tonnes of our chocolate,” a KitKat spokesperson said in a statement. “Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes. With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend.”
Can't help but think of George Clooney orchestrating the heist from his villa in Lago di Como (with a perfect alibi somehow). Maybe Brad Pitt was hungry.
I had a coworker who would fly to SE Asia a few times a year, he'd always bring back a small suitcase of insane KitKat flavors from Tokyo airport (or nearby). One time he had a bunch of varieties of green tea KitKats, never seen anything close to that in the US.
The product is a minimum of 25% cocoa solids and the oils are listed after that on the ingredients list, which means by weight they are more cocoa than oil.
Whereas the article and Nestlé themselves state there is a production site in Italy:
Swiss food giant Nestlé says about 12 tons, or 413,793 candy bars, of its KitKat chocolate brand were stolen after leaving its production site in Italy earlier this week for Poland.
Were electric minis used in this heist? Was the Turin traffic system hacked?
Were only the doors blown off (come on baby light my fire)?