Pocky Day

Where is Pocky Day celebrated?

Pocky Day is celebrated in Japan. There is a similar event that is widely celebrated in South Korea. It goes by the name of Pepero Day and celebrates Pepero sticks.

Who is Pocky Day celebrated by?

Pocky Day is a great deal for the Japanese, and almost everyone living in Japan celebrates Pocky Day.

When did Pocky Day first start?

The Japanese people celebrated Pocky Day for the first time on November 11, 1999.

Who started Pocky Day?

Ezaki Glico, the company that created Pocky sticks, started Pocky Day.

History And Timeline

In this section, we will discuss the history and origin of the Pocky stick. In addition, we will also see how this famous food received an event of its own.

Traditions And Customs

As stated earlier, Ezaki Glico first launched Pocky stick in 1966. Initially, Glico covered the whole stick with chocolate. But it resulted in chocolate-coated and messy hands.

As a result, Glico tried to find some solution. At first, they thought of using removable foil. But the plan turned out to be very expensive.

Also, consumers might have found it annoying to remove the foil every time they eat a Pocky stick. Then, the company decided to leave a small portion of the Pocky stick uncoated. It worked like a charm and made the snack extremely popular across the country.

In 1983, a South Korean food company Lotte launched a similar product called Pepero. In the '90s, this snack became quite famous, and people started celebrating an unofficial Pepero Day on November 11.

The date was significant because it looks like four sticks when you write it in numbers. Within a few years, Lotte used this event to increase its business. As a result, the company officially began promoting Pepero Day in 1997.

Over the years, this event became very popular. By 2012, half of Lotte's annual profits came from Pepero Day.

In Japan, Ezaki Glico followed a similar business strategy. In 1999, the company established an annual holiday named Pocky Day. Since then, the people of Japan have been celebrating this event annually on November 11.

In 2014, Ezaki Glico also organized a world challenge. This contest ran from October 14, 2014, to November 11, 2014.

The Japanese company invited people from around the globe to send photos of themselves with Pocky sticks. Through this contest, Glico tried to make a Guinness World Record for the largest online photo montage of cookies or biscuits. By the end of the world challenge, Ezaki Glico gathered 16,825 photos.

The company also performed a similar world challenge in the following year. But, this time, it did not set a new record.

At present, many bars in Japan also serve Pocky sticks. You will get your favorite snack alongside a glass of ice water.

Ways To Celebrate Pocky Day

On Pocky Day, eat as many Pocky sticks as you want. Over the years, Ezaki Glico has introduced numerous Pocky flavors.

The most popular ones are banana, lychee, melon, coffee, milk, cream cheese, sweet potato, corn on the cob, and marble royal milk tea. Some popular regional flavors are five-fusion berry, Kobe wine, powdered tea azuki bean, and Yubari melon. Besides these, there are also some other flavors that sound funny, but you should try them once in your life.

These are tomato flavor, pumpkin flavor, marron flavor, and Brazilian pudding flavor. On Pocky Day, you should try out as many of these flavors as possible.

Another great way to celebrate this holiday is to host a Pocky-themed party. Invite your friends and family members and celebrate this event with them.

Want to add some more fun to your party? Why don't you try to build Pocky towers with your guests? Finally, post something nice on social media to encourage others to celebrate this special event.

Facts And Stats

• The Japanese food corporation Ezaki Glico established Pocky Day on November 11, 1999. The date is very significant. In the Japanese calendar, the year 1999 is the 11th year of Heisei. So, when you write the date in numbers (11/11/11) you get six sticks.
• Pocky indeed came before Pepero. However, Pepero Day came into existence much before Pocky Day. The South Korean company Lotte began promoting this event in 1997.
• On November 11, 2022, the people of Japan celebrated the 23rd anniversary of Pocky Day.