Morinaga America launches flavor vote to celebrate 10-year anniversary in the U.S.

Fans will vote for next Japanese flavor to hit U.S. shelves.

Through its newest campaign — the East Meets West Flavor Challenge — Morinaga America will bring a little bit of Japan to the United States to mark its 10-year anniversary here.

Fans of Morinaga’s chewy, rectangular HI-CHEW candies can vote for a Japanese flavor they’d like to see Stateside. Though Morinaga has introduced more than 170 flavors in Japan over the last century, voters will choose from 20 flavors including Asian Pear, Banana Fizz, Lychee, Dragonfruit and Chocolate Banana.

The East Meets West Flavor Challenge pays homage to the brand's Japanese heritage and its success in growing HI-CHEW in the United States over the last decade. Taichiro Morinaga originally traveled to the United States to learn the secrets of candy making in the late 1800s before returning to Japan to establish Morinaga & Co.

"The United States has always been a very special country for Morinaga, as it was where my grandfather fell in love with candy making," said Gota Morinaga, chairman of Morinaga & Co. "All these years later, we are honored to call America our home and to celebrate this tremendous milestone. We look forward to the next 10 years and beyond to continue to innovate, excite and deliver deliciously fruity, chewy HI-CHEW and more to our fans here."

Voting began March 12 and will conclude March 31. The winning flavor will be announced April 10 and will appear on U.S. shelves in early 2019.

Alyse Thompson has held many positions with BNP Media, first serving as an intern at Candy Industry Magazine in summer 2012. She joined Candy Industry's staff full time as associate editor in August 2016 after a few years at newspapers in West-Central Illinois, becoming managing editor in March 2019. Alyse has also served as managing editor of Cannabis Products Magazine since March 2019. She has bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Spanish from Western Illinois University.