As an alternative to offering conventional Valentine's Day chocolate gifts to consumers, Japan's Ogura Sanso created a unique gift box made with chocolate-coated rice crackers.
Inside the tube-shaped 'OGURA Chocolate Coated Arare Spicy Rice Cracker' gift box, there are a total of nine small bags, including four that contain white, bitter and matcha chocolates and five bags that contain sweet strawberry, milk and white chocolates. These OGURA chocolates were also offered as part of boxed sets for Valentine's Day in Japan.
While it is tradition for men to give women gifts for Valentine's Day in North America, Valentine's Day in Japan is a time where women do the gift-giving and men return the favor on White Day.
Chocolate-Coated Rice Crackers
This Valentine's Day Chocolate Gift Boasts Bitter and Sweet Flavors
Trend Themes
1. Alternative Chocolate Gifts - Creating unique and unconventional chocolate gifts, such as chocolate-coated rice crackers, provides a disruptive innovation opportunity in the confectionery industry.
2. Multi-flavored Gift Boxes - Offering gift boxes with a variety of flavors, such as bitter, sweet, matcha, strawberry, and milk chocolates, presents a disruptive innovation opportunity in the gift-giving industry.
3. Cross-cultural Holiday Traditions - Exploring cross-cultural holiday traditions, like women giving gifts on Valentine's Day and men returning the favor on White Day in Japan, presents a disruptive innovation opportunity in the global holiday industry.
Industry Implications
1. Confectionery - The confectionery industry can explore creating unique and unconventional chocolate gifts to cater to customers looking for alternative Valentine's Day presents.
2. Gift-giving - The gift-giving industry can innovate by offering gift boxes with a variety of flavors to provide customers with more options for special occasions like Valentine's Day.
3. Global Holidays - The global holiday industry can benefit from studying and incorporating cross-cultural holiday traditions to create unique experiences and attract a diverse range of customers.