Hello Panda is a brand of Japanese biscuit, manufactured by Meiji Seika. It was first released in Japan during 1987 under the name Konnichiwa Panda (こんにちはパンダ).[‡ 1][1] It was discontinued in Japan in 1989 due to difficult competition, but remains sold internationally, such as China, Australia and Saudi Arabia.[1] Each biscuit consists of a small hollow shortbread layer, filled with crème of various flavors.[‡ 2] On some biscuits there are printed cartoon style depictions of giant pandas doing various activities, such as fencing or archery. In the United States, the biscuits show the pandas doing other activities such as basketball, hockey and baseball.[‡ 3]
Hello Panda was originally baked in Japan by Meiji Seika, but was first produced internationally in Singapore in 1991.[1] The biscuits are exported to most developed countries, such as the United Kingdom (by Unisnacks), most European countries, the United States, the Middle East, Australia and Canada. Certain varieties of the biscuit are found only in certain countries. For example, the chocolate pretzel variety is produced by Meiji America, Meiji’s North American division, and are thus sold in North America.[2][unreliable source?]
The biscuits are commonly sold in a tall, hexagonal box with 2 oz or 57.5 g. In some countries, Hello Panda biscuits are available in small 21 and 35 g aluminium pouches, 50 g as well as 260 g boxes and limited edition packages. While the boxes come in sizes of 60 g (20 cookies), 170 g (hexagonal boxes containing eight bags weighing 21 g) and 680 g (a box containing 32 bags weighing 21 g) packets can also be bought containing a mixture of flavors.[citation needed]
Flavors
- Chocolate[3]
- Strawberry[3]
- Vanilla[3]
- Matcha green tea[3]
- Double chocolate
- Milk
- Milk + Chocolate Biscuit
- Coconut
- Caramel – First introduced in the US in 2020[3]
- Pretzel Chocolate
See also
References
Secondary sources
- ^ a b c Speed, Jessica (12 May 2026). “Hello Panda: A globally loved snack Japan said goodbye to in 1989”. The Japan Times. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
- ^ “Get Your Paws on Meiji Hello Panda™ Pretzel”. www.prnewswire.com. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
- ^ a b c d e “Meiji America Inc. launches Hello Panda Caramel snacks”. Candy Industry. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
Primary sources
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
- ^ “世界30ヵ国で人気！ 「ハローパンダ」ビスケット菓子の躍進を支える明治のチカラ ｜ トレンド ｜ Hello, Chocolate（ハローチョコレート）｜ 株式会社 明治 – Meiji Co., Ltd”. www.meiji.co.jp (in Japanese). 24 January 2025. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
- ^ “Meiji corporate website”. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
- ^ “Meiji Australia”. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2013.