Five by Fifty » snacks

Morinaga Retro Chocolate

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 05:06:50 +0000

Morinaga has released two new chocolate bars with retro packaging. The milk chocolate and bitter chocolate bars feature illustrations from old Morinaga ads. Morinaga, founded in 1918, was the first company in Japan to refine chocolate from coco beans.

Learn more:
Other Morinaga Products
Morinaga Official Site (Japanese

Morinaga Strawberry Chocolate

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:18:58 +0000

Morinaga has released a new chocolate stick snack that is flavored with European grown strawberries. The product name “Ko-eda” means “twig” in Japanese.

Learn more:
Other Morinaga Products
Morinaga Official Site (Japanese

Morinaga Chocolate balls

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:11:04 +0000

Morinaga has released a limited edition of its long-selling chocolate ball snacks, represented by the popular “Kyoro” bird mascot. Like so many other snack products entering this market this month, this one is being marketed to students preparing for Japanese university entrance exams, with the mascot appearing on the package dress like a professor.

Learn more:
Other Morinaga Products
Morinaga Official Site (Japanese

Chocolate for Test Takers

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:49:26 +0000

Morinaga has released two chocolate snacks marketed to students studying for college entrance exams, which are held every January. The snacks are light corn flake waffers covered in white chocolate or dark chocolate. When the packages of the two products, which are sold separately, are lined up, the spell out “gokaku” meaning “make the grade” in Japanese. Morinaga has also released a limited edition of its long-selling chocolate balls, sweetened with grapes.

Learn more:
Other Morinaga Products
Morinaga Official Site (Japanese

Haichu Exam Candy

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:35:51 +0000

Morinaga has released “Haichu” a soft, chewy, plum-flavored candy which is designed to make chewers alert, and has gone on the market when millions of students are studying for the notoriously difficult exams to enter Japanese universities. The Japanese word for “pass the test” even appears on the package.

Learn more:
Other Morinaga Products
Morinaga Official Site (Japanese

Sakura Flavored Chips

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:54:48 +0000

House Foods has released a edition in its O’Zack series of chips, flavored with real cherry blossom leaves.

Learn more:
Other House Foods Products
House Foods Official Site (Japanese)

Spicy Sweets

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:32 +0000

A number of snacks blending spices with sweet tastes have hit the Japanese market. Kracie Foods has released Pepperfruits, a chewing gum flavored with mango and passion fruit and which also contains ground black pepper -as far as we know the first time that such a hot spice has been used in a sweets product in Japan.

After the recent craze for chocolate and lassi drinks with salt, maybe the Japanese market is getting ready for even more adventurous combinations?

Salty chocolate snack from Meiji, two of several currently on the market.

New 'Walky Walky' Flavor

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:56:08 +0000

Glico has added a new flavor to its walky walky brand of chocolate snacks with white chocolate.

Dars Chocolate Temperature Indicator

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:44:18 +0000

Morigana has released a new package for its chocolate snack Dars that includes a thermometer function – an indicator on the package shows when the chocolate is at the right temperature to enjoy, which the company has decided is 22 degrees Celsius.

Meiji Xylish Gum

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:35:55 +0000

Xylish, the gum brand from Meiji, has created cool new packaging for their boxed gum in a range of bright, eye-catching colors.