What Makes Meiji a Powerhouse of Japanese Snacks?
When it comes to food products, not many companies in the world can compare to Meiji. From sweets and desserts to health foods and supplements, Meiji has proven to be a cornerstone of Japan’s snack industry. With a legacy of quality and innovation, the company has extended its reach to many overseas countries.
This post explores Meiji’s extensive range of products, including Meiji Chocolate, Hello Panda cookies, Gummy Candy, and lots more. We’ll also be looking at the cultural impact of these brands and Meiji’s use of traditional flavors. Let’s dive in!
Exploring Meiji's Extensive Range: From Chocolates to Drinks and Ice Cream
Meiji Co., Ltd. is one of the most popular Japanese food companies in the world. It manufactures and sells all kinds of food and pharmaceutical products. Millions of people rely on Meiji brands for their health, lifestyle, and nutrition. However, for the purpose of this post, we’ll focus on the food arm of the company, which covers dairy products and confectioneries. These foods are not only sold in Asia but also distributed in countries in Europe, North America, and Oceania. Below is an overview of the broad array of worldwide Meiji products:
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Chocolates: Meiji sources quality cocoa from eight countries and uses the crops to create over 20 chocolate brands. Top brands include Meiji Milk Chocolate, Hello Panda, and Kinoko no Yama, which are sold in Japan, China, the United States, Canada, and other countries.
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Milk: Meiji uses top-notch farm practices to produce premium raw milk, which is then used to create products such as Meiji Pasteurized Milk, Meiji Oishii Gyunyu, and Meiji CHUN YI.
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Ice Cream: Meiji’s main ice cream product is the Essel Super Cup. It comes in a variety of flavors, including vanilla, chocolate cookie, and green tea. The company occasionally releases limited-time flavors.
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Yogurt: Meiji has two main beverages made with fermented milk. They are Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt and Probiotic Yogurt.
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Cheese: The company puts its quality raw milk to good use with yet another dairy product. The brand is called Meiji Hokkaido Tokachi Cheese, and it's famous for using ingredients sourced from Japan’s dairy capital, Hokkaido.
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Gummies: Meji’s Juicy Gummy is one of the biggest gummy candy brands in Japan. It comes in many different flavors, including strawberry, grape, muscat, kiwi, lime, and peach.
Why Does Meiji Chocolate Taste So Good?
With nearly a quarter of the domestic market share, Meiji is the top chocolate seller in Japan. The chocolates in their products are distinctively delicious because the company only uses high-quality cacao beans. Meiji also practices the bean-to-bar method of chocolate manufacturing. This means that the company controls all stages of the manufacturing process, from procurement of the beans to the creation of the end product.
All of Meiji’s cocoa comes from farms in eight of the world's largest cocoa-producing countries, including Dominica, Ghana, and Ecuador. These cocoa beans are used to make a variety of Meiji chocolates. The following are their most popular end products:
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Meiji Milk Chocolate: This has been the company’s flagship chocolate brand since 1926. It comes in the form of smooth, sweet, and creamy chocolate bars, cubes, bit-size pieces, or morsels.
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Chocolate Kouka: The high cocoa content in this treat gives it a slightly bitter taste. You can find versions with 95, 86, and 72 percent cocoa levels. This is one for people who enjoy healthy, rich chocolate.
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Kinoko no Yama: Also known as Chocorooms, this is a set of mushroom-shaped snacks. The stems are made of crispy biscuits and the caps from rich dark chocolate.
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Meltykiss: This seasonal brand is one of Japan’s and China’s favorite winter treats. Made with soft and delicate chocolate, the product comes in various flavors, including dark chocolate, milk chocolate, matcha, and strawberry.
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Hello Panda: This snack consists of hollow shortbread filled with flavored cream. Common creme flavors include vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. It’s arguably one of the most popular Meiji products worldwide.
Bokksu is not responsible for the accuracy of the products’ nutritional or allergen information. Warning: California’s Proposition 65 may be in effect. For more information,visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. Some Bokksu Market products are produced overseas and may have a Production Date printed on the packaging, rather than a Best Buy Date as is standard in North America. If your product appears expired, do not be alarmed! This is most likely the Production Date. All items have been double checked to ensure they are not expired and safe to eat.
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Why Is Hello Panda Loved All Over the World?
Meiji’s Hello Panda cookies are currently being produced in several countries outside of Japan, including Singapore, the United States, and Thailand. Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, other countries in Europe, Oceania, and North America have access to the products through Meiji’s vast exportation network.
Bokksu is not responsible for the accuracy of the products’ nutritional or allergen information. Warning: California’s Proposition 65 may be in effect. For more information,visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. Some Bokksu Market products are produced overseas and may have a Production Date printed on the packaging, rather than a Best Buy Date as is standard in North America. If your product appears expired, do not be alarmed! This is most likely the Production Date. All items have been double checked to ensure they are not expired and safe to eat.
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The creme-filled shortbread cookies are popular with kids and adults worldwide. Their bite sizes, crunchy shells, and sweet centers have made them irresistible to millions of people. The iconic package design graphic of a cute panda is one of the most adorable images in the global snacking scene. Hello Panda’s diverse range of flavors also plays a big role in its international popularity. You have so many choices, including chocolate, vanilla, double chocolate, milk, strawberry, caramel, matcha green tea, and coconut.
The Diverse World of Meiji Gummies and Gummy Chocolates
Although Meiji specializes in smooth, creamy milk and chocolate treats, the company has also been a source of chewy goodness for many people in Japan. It is one of the first to create candies with enough hardness and elasticity to offer value to consumers through a chewy texture foreign to the local palate.
Juicy Gummy is Meiji’s flagship gummy candy. Released in 1988, it quickly became a hit among all ages, not just for its chewy texture but also for its natural aroma, taste, and color of fruit juice. The first version of Juicy Gummy was made with real grape juice extract. Over the decades, more flavors have been added to the product line, such as strawberry, acerola cherry, lime, tangerine, peach, lemon peel, kiwi, and muscat.
More recently, Meiji launched the Gummy Choco series. This unique product features fruity gummy candy coated in milk chocolate. Like Juicy Gummy, it also comes in a variety of fun flavors.
Nuts about Meiji: Macadamia and Almond Treats
Meiji has successfully found a way to combine the smoothness and richness of milk chocolate with the crispiness of nuts. This is evident in the brand’s macadamia and almond options.
Meiji Almond Chocolate is Japan’s best-selling chocolate and nut blend. The snack is made by coating roasted almond nuts with delicious milk chocolate. Meiji uses a premium selection of almonds from California to make this crunchy delight. The treats inside each package are protected by moisture-proof film, keeping them fresh during transport and storage.
Meiji’s second-most-famous nutty option is the Macadamia Chocolate. It’s made with quality, soft, aromatic, and extremely rare macadamia nuts. The company uses traditional methods to roast the nuts before coating them in specially formulated chocolate. Meiji Macadamia Chocolate comes in a variety of box sizes. It also has a special version made with matcha-infused chocolate.
A Deep Dive into Kinoko no Yama and Takenoko no Sato
Kinoko no Yama and Takenoko no Sato are two famous Meiji choco-snacks that have sparked playful rivalry among fans for decades. Both are made of crispy crackers partially coated with dark chocolate. However, Kinoko no Yama (Chocorooms) is shaped like a mushroom, while Takenoko no Sato (Chococones) is cone-shaped.
Kinoko no Yama was the first to hit the shelves, making its debut in 1975. About four years later (1979), Meiji refined the baking process and modified the shape, literally creating Takenoko no Sato as a sister product. Both snacks have similar flavor offerings, including matcha and strawberry.
Seasonal Delights: Meiji’s Limited Edition Offerings
Meiji frequently releases seasonal and limited edition treats that create anticipation and keep consumers waiting from the June-July months of summer to the winter months of December-January. Its most popular seasonal product is the famous Meltykiss, a premium chocolate brand that’s only available for the winter. This timing is necessary to store the chocolate at the right temperature. In the past, the company has released limited edition Meltykiss made with matcha and strawberry.
Meiji’s strawberry chocolate space-themed brand, Apollo, is also famous for releasing limited edition products, including region-specific treats for Hokkaido.
Innovative Edge: What’s New from Meiji?
The company is looking to merge the food and pharmaceutical arms of its business in a bid to launch healthier products. Through its Wellness Science Lab, Meiji uses research to achieve this aim and create products that improve life expectancy. We’re already starting to see the results. In 2024, Meiji released a new brand of chocolate that contained fructooligosaccharides, the healthier alternative to sugar.
Cultural Infusions: Meiji’s Use of Traditional Flavors
Despite its global status, Meiji is still, at its core, a Japanese company. Hence, while it continues to innovate, the company incorporates traditional ingredients and processing methods into modern snacks, enhancing their cultural relevance. For example, many of its confections have a matcha variation. Green tea powder is a popular ingredient in traditional Japanese confections.
Meiji’s Collaborations with Other Companies
The Meiji company collaborates with dozens of other organizations. They signed the United Nations Global Compact initiative in 2019, publicly declaring their commitment to sustainability. Meiji is a member of several other relevant organizations, including the World Cocoa Foundation, Global Dairy Platform, and International Dairy Federation.
Where to Find Meiji Delights
Bokksu Market is the best place to order Meiji products online. We offer a wide range of brands from the company, such as Meiji Pucca Pretzel Cookies, Hello Panda, and Gummy Choco. Feel free to explore our website and purchase your favorite flavors.
Meiji remains a beloved brand in Japan and internationally, thanks to the company’s commitment to quality, innovation, and sustainability. Despite its success overseas, Meiji remains true to its Japanese roots, further cementing its legacy as Japan’s premier food company.
Bokksu is not responsible for the accuracy of the products’ nutritional or allergen information. Warning: California’s Proposition 65 may be in effect. For more information,visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. Some Bokksu Market products are produced overseas and may have a Production Date printed on the packaging, rather than a Best Buy Date as is standard in North America. If your product appears expired, do not be alarmed! This is most likely the Production Date. All items have been double checked to ensure they are not expired and safe to eat.
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