The large LED Glico Man sign located above Dōtonbori in Ōsaka is undoubtedly one of the most well known landmarks and popular photo stops in Ōsaka. While Glico is now most well known for its Pretz and Pocky, it was this Glico Caramel that started the company in 1919. As we learned during our tour of the Glico factory in 2018, Riichi Ezaki created a caramel candy product containing glycogen extracted from oyster and named it ‘Glico’ a shortening of the word glycogen. Each piece of candy is 15.4 kcal, which is enough energy to run exactly 300 meters.
As part of Glico’s sales campaign and marketing in the 1920s, miniature toys were enclosed in every Glico caramel box. Almost a century later, certain boxes continue to come with a small boxed wooden toy. These two cube making up the rhino are part of 10 wooden toys in the series.
Each box contained four heart shaped caramels individually sealed in foil.
The caramel is an opaque brown colour with a sweet milk caramel aroma. Upon tasting, the caramel is firm but yields readily to a softness on chewing that does not stick to the teeth. A gentle sweetness came through before the flavour intensifies and developed with a hint of citrus that recalled a sweet mikan zest in the body and carried through to the finish. Overall, we enjoyed this caramel more than we expected with its impeccable texture and the citrus undertones being the highlight.
This Glico Caramel contained 16 g or 4 pieces. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2019.