Ezaki Glico
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese confectionery
company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka
.
The company manufactures the traditional Glico caramel candy, as well as Pocky
(also known as Mikado in Europe) and many others. The company name, Glico, is derived from a shortening of the word glycogen
. The first candy produced by the company was known as Glico-Caramel. The Glico 300 meter running man trademark
is also derived from the original caramel candy: the candy is 15.4 kcal
, which is 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 metres.)
The company's large neon sign located above Dotonbori
in Osaka has been a famous landmark of the city since its initial construction in 1919. It bears the Glico running man on a blue race track, as well as some of Osaka's other famous landmarks in the background. 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
. As the sign is quite well known, it has long been a popular photo stop for tourists as well as locals.
The company was also the main sponsor of the anime series Tetsujin 28 (1963—1966, the original Japanese version of Gigantor
).
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese confectionery
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
company headquartered in Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
.
The company manufactures the traditional Glico caramel candy, as well as Pocky
Pocky
is a Japanese snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico Company of Japan.-History:Pocky was first sold in 1966, and consists of a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoetic word for the sound Pocky makes when bitten, pokkin . The original was followed by...
(also known as Mikado in Europe) and many others. The company name, Glico, is derived from a shortening of the word glycogen
Glycogen
Glycogen is a molecule that serves as the secondary long-term energy storage in animal and fungal cells, with the primary energy stores being held in adipose tissue...
. The first candy produced by the company was known as Glico-Caramel. The Glico 300 meter running man trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
is also derived from the original caramel candy: the candy is 15.4 kcal
Calorie
The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
, which is 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 metres.)
The company's large neon sign located above Dotonbori
Dotonbori
is one of the principal tourist destinations in Osaka, Japan. It is a single street, running alongside the Dōtonbori canal between the Dōtonboribashi Bridge and the Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba ward of Osaka...
in Osaka has been a famous landmark of the city since its initial construction in 1919. It bears the Glico running man on a blue race track, as well as some of Osaka's other famous landmarks in the background. The giant neon sign has been revised on several occasions in order to celebrate events such as the World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
and to bolster team spirit for Osaka's baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers
Hanshin Tigers
The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team based in Koshien, Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and are in the Central League. Hanshin Electric Railway Co., Ltd., the subsidiary of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings Inc., owns the Hanshin Tigers directly...
. As the sign is quite well known, it has long been a popular photo stop for tourists as well as locals.
The company was also the main sponsor of the anime series Tetsujin 28 (1963—1966, the original Japanese version of Gigantor
Gigantor
Gigantor is an American adaptation of the anime version of Tetsujin 28-go, a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. It debuted on U.S. television in 1964. As with Speed Racer, the characters' original names were altered and the original series' violence was toned down for American viewers...
).
Corporate message
- "Good Taste and Good Health" (おいしさと健康, 1971—1992)
- "A Wholesome Life in the Best of Taste" (1992—, message in Japanese "おいしさと健康" is still in use)
Products
- Confectioneries
- PockyPockyis a Japanese snack food produced by the Ezaki Glico Company of Japan.-History:Pocky was first sold in 1966, and consists of a biscuit stick coated with chocolate. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoetic word for the sound Pocky makes when bitten, pokkin . The original was followed by...
, chocolate-coated pretzel sticks, which come in many other flavours. - PretzPretzPretz is a Japanese snack made by Ezaki Glico. Like Ezaki Glico's other popular snack, Pocky, Pretz is stick-shaped and comes with a texture similar to pretzels. Unlike Pocky, Pretz is dusted with seasonings instead of enrobed in a flavored fudge.Pretz comes in a few varieties and three sizes:...
, pretzel sticks. - Almond Chocolate, pretzel sticks coated with chocolate and crushed almonds.
- Caplico, frosting-dipped waffle biscuits in the shape of ice cream cones that come in either chocolate or strawberry flavour.
- Bisco, wheat germ crackers with yogurt cream.
- アイスの実 (romaji: aisu no mi), a candy famous for being promoted by an extremely realistic CG character, Aimi EguchiAimi Eguchiis a fictional Japanese idol. She is a CGI composite of various features of six existing members of the theater/idol group AKB48.Eguchi was announced as the group's newest member in June 2011. According to an official profile she was a 16-year-old from Saitama, north of Tokyo...
, who was created by Glico using facial features from members of the pop band AKB48AKB48AKB48 is a Japanese female idol group produced by Yasushi Akimoto.The group has achieved enormous popularity in Japan. Its ten latest consecutive singles topped the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart...
.
- Ice Cream Products
- 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, bite-sized round ice candies.
- Calorie Control Ice Cream series, which uses lower-calorie sweetening agents maltitolMaltitolMaltitol is a sugar alcohol used as a sugar substitute. It has 75-90% of the sweetness of sucrose and nearly identical properties, except for browning. It is used to replace table sugar because it has fewer calories, does not promote tooth decay, and has a somewhat lesser effect on blood glucose...
and sucraloseSucraloseSucralose is an artificial sweetener. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body and therefore it is non-caloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. Sucralose is approximately 600 times as sweet as sucrose , twice as sweet as saccharin, and 3.3...
in place of sugar and starch syrup often used in ice cream. TofuTofuis a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. It is part of East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and others. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu...
is also used to replace dairy products to lower the amount of calories.
- Processed Foods
- Ni-dan Juku Curry
- Curry Zeppin
- Donburi-tei, instant donburiDonburiDonburi is a Japanese "rice bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients simmered together and served over rice. Donburi meals are served in oversized rice bowls also called donburi...
.
- Health-related Foods
- Power Production, a series of supplemental food products for athletes.
- BREO, an oral care candy that was developed for cleaning the tongue and breath.
See also
- Aimi EguchiAimi Eguchiis a fictional Japanese idol. She is a CGI composite of various features of six existing members of the theater/idol group AKB48.Eguchi was announced as the group's newest member in June 2011. According to an official profile she was a 16-year-old from Saitama, north of Tokyo...
, CGI pop idol created by Glico - Glico Morinaga caseGlico Morinaga caseThe , also known by its official designation , was a famous extortion case in 1980s Japan, primarily directed at the Japanese industrial confectioneries Ezaki Glico and Morinaga, and currently remains unsolved...