In November, there is a day that Koreans look forward to. November 11th, Pepero Day. Pepero Day is an unofficial holiday in Korea where people share their love for  Pepero, a biscuit stick covered with chocolate. 

If Pepero has a rival, it would be Pocky, a stick snack from Japan. In fact, Japan also shares this unofficial holiday, similar to Pepero Day. They refer to it as Pocky Day. Whether the day is called Pepero Day or Pocky Day, both countries share the same meanings and celebrate on the same day. However, the name of the snacks make a difference. Glico, the company that created Pocky, once filed a lawsuit against Lotte for the trademark. Those who have tried both snacks will know that it is hard to distinguish if it is Pepero or Pocky. So what exactly are the differences between Pepero and Pocky?

The image below shows the original version of both Pepero and Pocky. Although they may look similar, Pocky is thinner than Pepero. Pepero usually has 10 sticks per packet, while Pocky contains different amounts depending on how they are packaged. Pocky has more options for packaging, and usually contains more snacks than Pepero.

Personally, what matters the most is the flavor. I believe that there is a slight difference between the taste of Pepero and Pocky’s chocolate.  Pepero’s chocolate coating is sweeter than Pocky’s, while Pocky’s coating has a bitter taste at the end. Other than the original, Pepero and Pocky have more than one version which overlaps. For example, both snacks have their own version of cookies and cream. The difference is the cookies from “cookies and cream.” Pepero uses cookie chunks while Pocky uses cookie crumbs.

Although people have divided opinions on Pepero and Pocky, I personally enjoy both snacks.

Image from The Trademark Blog