Pretz usually comes dusted in savoury seasoning, so sweet-flavoured Pretz is somewhat of a rarity. The Glico Pretz Double Matcha Vanilla weren’t the best, but they were a rather pedestrian flavour produced in Thailand, so I’m keen to taste a more exotic flavour produced in Japan. Pretz and Pocky produced in Japan tend to have better flavour and texture than those overseas, and especially China.
So, this is Glico Pretz Pineapple. It’s a limited edition for sale in Hawaii, which has a sizeable Japanese population, but I managed to find it in a snack store along Tenjimbashisuji in Ōsaka. The packaging is all about the tropics.
Like the Double Pretz, the flavour of this Pretz relies on the biscuit itself rather than the dusted seasoning in standard Pretz, and also has two parts forming the biscuit stick: a paler yellow ‘icing’ layer, and a darker yellow ‘biscuit’ layer.
The outside of the darker biscuit side of these Pretz has a glaze that gave a slight tang to the first bite reminiscent of the acidity of fresh pineapple before sweeter cooked pineapple notes came through as the lighter icing side melts. Glaze aside, the biscuit themselves have a slight saltiness, which cuts through the sweetness. It’s quite impressive that Glico Japan managed to capture both the tangy and the sweet tropical notes of pineapple in an ordinarily salty snack. As with non-standard Pretz, these weren’t as more-ish so they come in a resealable slim pouch to extend their freshness for easy snacking.
This Glico Pretz Pineapple contained ~30 pieces. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Ōsaka, Japan in 2015.