Glico

Not to be confused with Glicko.
Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.
Native name
江崎グリコ株式会社
Ezaki Guriko Kabushiki-gaisha
Company typePublic
TYO: 2206
IndustryFood manufacturing
FoundedNishi-ku, Osaka, Japan (11 February 1922; 102 years ago (1922-02-11))[1][2]
FounderRiichi Ezaki (江崎 利一, Ezaki Riichi)
Headquarters
Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka
,
Japan
Key people
Katsuhisa Ezaki (businessman) [jp][3] (chairman)
Etsuro Ezaki (President and CEO)
ProductsConfectioneries, ice cream products, processed food
RevenueIncrease ¥338,437 million
US$3,003,531 thousand
(112.68 yen/US dollar, March 2016)[4]
Increase ¥17,110 million
US$151,850 thousand
(112.68 yen/US dollar, March 2016)[4]
Decrease ¥14,364 million
US$127,478 thousand
(112.68 yen/US dollar, March 2016)[4]
Total assetsDecrease ¥274,974 million
US$2,440,311 thousand
(112.68 yen/US dollar, March 2016)[5]
Total equityIncrease ¥179,151 million
US$1,589,917 thousand
(112.68 yen/US dollar, March 2016)[6]
Number of employees
4,961 (consolidated, March 2016)[7]
ParentMondelez International
SubsidiariesGlico Nutrition Co., Ltd.
Icreo Co., Ltd.
and others[8]
Websiteglico.com/global/

Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. (江崎グリコ株式会社, Ezaki Guriko Kabushiki-gaisha), commonly known as Glico, is a Japanese multinational food processing company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka.[8] It does business across 30 countries, in North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe.[9]

Overview

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Ezaki Glico's primary business is manufacturing confectionery products such as chocolate, chips, chewing gums and ice cream, and dairy products. Additionally, Glico manufactures processed foods, such as curry stocks and retort takikomi gohan pouches, and dietary supplement products.[10][11] Glico's main competitors are Meiji Seika, Lotte, Morinaga, Fujiya and Bourbon Company [ja] in the confectionery business and House Foods, Meiji and S&B Foods in the processed food business.

Ezaki Glico is a member of Midori Kai, a group of companies whose main financier was Sanwa Bank (later merged into the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ).[12]

Corporate message

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  • "300 meters per piece" (一粒300メートル, 1922–1996, refers to a piece of Asobi Glico caramel containing 300 calories. No longer main corporate motto but still in-use on Asobi Glico caramel packaging.)
  • "Good Taste and Good Health" (おいしさと健康, 1971–1992)
  • "A Wholesome Life in the Best of Taste" (最高の味わいで、健康的な生活を, 1992–2022, message in Japanese "おいしさと健康" is still in use)
  • "Healthier Days, Well Being for life" (すこやかな毎日、ゆたかな人生, 2022–, )

History

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Japan

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In 1919, Riichi Ezaki created a caramel candy product containing glycogen extracted from oysters. The caramel candy product was named "Glico," a shortening of the word glycogen.[13] The sales copy for this product was "300 Meters in a Single Piece," and a running man was painted on the package.[14][15] On February 11, 1922, Riichi started selling Glico products at the Mitsukoshi Osaka branch.

Later, in 1922, Riichi established a company, Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd.[16] Its Osaka and Tokyo factories were destroyed during World War II, and they were reopened in 1951. Popular products like Pretz and Pocky were introduced in 1963 and 1966, respectively.

In 1984, the Glico Morinaga case, a series of criminal incidents targeting Japanese major food manufacturers, occurred. Ezaki Glico and other victims were targeted by a group known as "The Monster with 21 Faces." The group claimed that $21 million ($2.26 billion yen) worth of sweets was laced with potassium cyanide soda, while Katsuhisa Ezaki(jp), president and CEO, was kidnapped but escaped by himself. Ezaki Glico was blackmailed and its office was burned by the criminals.

Overseas

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Ezaki Glico has been expanding its business overseas. At first, in 1932, Ezaki Glico established its factory in Dalian, China. In 1970, Ezaki Glico started its business in Thailand, establishing Thai Glico Co., Ltd. Later, in 1982, Generale Biscuit Glico France S.A. was established and started sales of Mikado (Pocky) in France. Ezaki Glico established Ezaki Glico USA Co., Ltd. in 2003. Additionally, it established PT Glico Wings (a joint venture with Wings Corp) in 2013 and PT Glico Indonesia in 2014, both of which are Indonesian companies.

Products

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Ezaki Glico manufactures a wide variety of products. Major products are listed here.[10][17]

Confections

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Pocky custard fondue
  • TCHO, Berkeley, California–based artisanal chocolate manufacturer of various chocolate bars.
  • Glico, caramel product. In addition to the standard flavor, there are caramel flavor and crushed almond flavor products.[18]
  • Pocky, chocolate-coated pretzel sticks, which come in many other flavors. [11] The total sales from 1966 exceeds 10 billion packages.[7] In Europe, this product is sold with the "Mikado" brand.[15]
  • Pretz, pretzel sticks, which come in many other flavors.
  • Almond Chocolate, almonds coated by chocolate.
  • Caplico, frosting-dipped waffle biscuits in the shape of ice cream cones that come in either chocolate or strawberry flavor.
  • Bisco, wheat germ crackers with yogurt cream using special yeast.
  • BREO, an oral care candy that was developed for cleaning the tongue and breath.

Dairy products

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  • Pucchin Pudding, the world's best-selling pudding product. Its characteristic is a special package with which consumers can efficiently move the contents on a plate.

Ice-cream products

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  • Giant Cone, ice cream in a large cone with crisp chocolate and nut toppings.
  • Panapp, vanilla ice cream in a handy long cup with fruit sauce fillings in the centre.
  • Papico, sherbet that comes in tubes.
  • Ice no Mi (アイスの実), bite-sized round ice candies. Ezaki Glico promoted this product by an extremely realistic CG character, Aimi Eguchi, who was created using facial features from members of the pop girl group, AKB48.[19]
  • Calorie Control Ice Cream series, which uses lower-calorie sweetening agents maltitol and sucralose in place of sugar and starch syrup often used in ice cream. Tofu is also used to replace dairy products to lower the amount of calories.
  • Seventeen Ice, a brand of ice cream coming in over 20 different flavors which is only available in vending machines.

Processed foods

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  • Ni-dan Juku Curry, cubed-type Japanese-style curry stock.
  • Donburi-tei, instant donburi retort pouch product.
Glico sign at Dōtonbori

Baby formula

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  • ICREO Balance Milk, a powdered baby formula manufactured by Icreo Co., Ltd.
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Ezaki Glico's large LED sign located above Dōtonbori in Osaka has been a landmark of the city since its initial construction in 1935. It bears the Glico running man on a blue race track, as well as some of Osaka's other landmarks in the background.[20] The giant neon sign has been revised on several occasions in order to celebrate events such as the World Cup and to bolster team spirit for Osaka's baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers.[21] As the sign is quite well known, it has long been a popular photo stop for tourists as well as locals.

Ezaki Glico was also the main sponsor of the anime series Tetsujin 28 (1963–1966, the original Japanese version of Gigantor).[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2016, p. 51.
  2. ^ The date when Riichi Ezaki started selling his first product "Glico" caramel. Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. was established in February 1929, but it features February 11, 1922 as Glico group's "foundation date." Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017a, p. 55
  3. ^ "Corporate Data". Archived from the original on 2024-01-08. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  4. ^ a b c Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2016, p. 12.
  5. ^ Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2016, p. 10.
  6. ^ Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2016, p. 11.
  7. ^ a b Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017b.
  8. ^ a b Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017a, p. 55.
  9. ^ Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017c.
  10. ^ a b Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017a, p. 37-42.
  11. ^ a b Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017d.
  12. ^ Midori Kai 2017.
  13. ^ Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017e- Unless otherwise noted, the explanation in this "History" paragraph is based on this website.
  14. ^ A piece of Glico is 15.4 kcal, enough energy to run exactly 300 meters. (Calculated from a formula stating that a person 165 centimeters in height and weighing 55 kilograms will burn 8.21 kcal running 160 metres in one minute. Over a period of 1.88 minutes, such a person would burn 15.4 kcal running 300 meters.)
  15. ^ a b Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017a, p. 33.
  16. ^ Ezaki Glico has been renamed several times. When established in 1929, the company name was Kabushiki-gaisha Ezaki. In 1934, it was renamed to Glico Kabushiki-gaisha and in 1943 it was renamed to Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. In 1949, the company name was changed to Glico Kabushiki-gaisha again and in 1958 it was renamed to the current name.
  17. ^ Unless otherwise noted, the explanation in this "Products" paragraph is based on Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017a, pp. 37-42.
  18. ^ Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. 2017f.
  19. ^ Time 2011.
  20. ^ The Japan Times 2015.
  21. ^ Sankei West 2014.
  22. ^ Allabout 2005.

Materials

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ezaki Glico.
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