Koala's March () is a bite-sized cookie snack with a sweet filling. The cookies are produced by Lotte.

History

The product was first released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1984, to celebrate the arrival of the first koalas to the country. The snack originally only came with a chocolate filling. The product expanded to Hong Kong in 1986. In 1988, some Japanese students started the rumor that finding a cookie with a koala with two eyebrows playing a trumpet would bring good luck on exams. This myth has persisted until at least 2019. The product was released in Australia by 1990, and in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in May 1990. Originally, the snacks used the name "Koala Yummies" in the United States, later changing to the name "Koala's March," a translation of the Japanese name. In the United States, the cookies are primarily found in Asian specialty stores and some Hispanic specialty stores. Koala's March was one of the products impacted by the

2008 Chinese milk scandal The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a significant food safety incident in China. The scandal involved Sanlu Group's milk and infant formula along with other food materials and components being adulterated with the chemical melamine, which resu ...

. In 2012, Lotte released an ' emergency food' version of Koala's March biscuits without filling, which were sold in cans and had a shelf life of five years.

Description

Koala's March is in the shape of a

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

, with printing on the outside of the cookie showing the koala doing some sort of activity, such as playing drums, holding a picture, posing, playing a trumpet, or crying from

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

. More than 600 official designs exist, but only 365 are being actively manufactured as of 2023. New designs are introduced to reflect new technology or cultural trends, and designs are retired if they become outdated (such as a koala using a pager). The filling comes in various sweet flavors, such as

apple pie An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apples. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream, ice cream ("apple pie à la mode"), custard or cheddar cheese. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the ...

, banana,

cheesecake Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, ...

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

(with bitter chocolate and

white chocolate White chocolate is a chocolate made from cocoa butter, sugar and milk solids. It is Ivory (color), ivory in color and lacks the dark appearance of most other types of chocolate as it does not contain the non-fat components of cocoa (cocoa sol ...

variants), cocoa and milk,

cotton candy Cotton candy, also known as candy floss (candyfloss) and fairy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool ...

, honey,

latte Latte () or caffè latte (), also known as , or , is a List of coffee drinks, coffee drink of Italian cuisine, Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk, traditionally served in a glass. Variants include the chocolate-flavored ''caf ...

(with almond and caramel variants),

lemon tart A lemon tart () is a French dessert dish, a variety of tart. It has a pastry Pastry refers to a variety of Dough, doughs (often enriched with fat or eggs), as well as the sweet and savoury Baking, baked goods made from them. The dough may be ...

matcha is a finely ground powder of green tea specially processed from shade-grown tea leaves. Shade growing gives matcha its characteristic bright green color and strong umami flavor. Matcha is typically consumed suspended in hot water. Matcha ori ...

, pineapple, strawberry, and vanilla. Koala's March has also produced variants in collaboration with other brands, such as

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

(2020),

Franck Muller Franck Muller is a Switzerland, Swiss luxury watch manufacturer named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were 20000 pkr in watches with an average unit price of 679000 pkr Franck Muller's watches are worn by va ...

(2023), ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

'' (2023),

Hello Kitty , also known by her real name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red ...

, and '' Madoka Magica''. Koala's March supports the Australian conservation group Australian Koala Foundation. They also have cards, naming the different types of "koalas".

References

External links

Koala's March USA website
(archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koala's March 2008 Chinese milk scandal Brand name cookies Products introduced in 1984 Fictional koalas Food recalls Japanese brand foods Japanese snack food Lotte (conglomerate) products

History

Description

See also

References

External links