The story
Founded by Riichi Ezaki on Feb 22, 1929, in Nishi-ku.1
In Japan
In 1919, Riichi Ezaki created a caramel candy product containing glycogen extracted from oysters. The caramel candy product was named "Glico," a shortening of the word glycogen. The sales copy for this product was "300 Meters in a Single Piece," and a running man was painted on the package. On February 11, 1922, Riichi started selling Glico products at the Mitsukoshi Osaka branch.
Later, in 1922, Riichi established a company, Ezaki Glico Co., Ltd. Its Osaka and Tokyo factories were destroyed during World War II, and they were reopened in 1951. Popular products like Pretz and Pocky were introduced in 1963 and 1966, respectively.
In 1984, the Glico Morinaga case, a series of criminal incidents targeting Japanese major food manufacturers, occurred. Ezaki Glico and other victims were targeted by a group known as "The Monster with 21 Faces." The group claimed that $21 million ($2.26 billion yen) worth of sweets was laced with potassium cyanide soda, while Katsuhisa Ezaki(jp), president and CEO, was kidnapped but escaped by himself. Ezaki Glico was blackmailed and its office was burned by the criminals.
Overseas
Ezaki Glico has been expanding its business overseas. At first, in 1932, Ezaki Glico established its factory in Dalian, China. In 1970, Ezaki Glico started its business in Thailand, establishing Thai Glico Co., Ltd. Later, in 1982, Generale Biscuit Glico France S.A. was established and started sales of Mikado (Pocky) in France. Ezaki Glico established Ezaki Glico USA Co., Ltd. in 2003. Additionally, it established PT Glico Wings (a joint venture with Wings Corp) in 2013 and PT Glico Indonesia in 2014, both of which are Indonesian companies.
From Wikipedia’s article on Glico, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5