is a Japanese snack food maker. It was founded on 30 April 1949, and its headquarters are located in the Marunouchi Trust Tower Main in

Marunouchi Marunouchi () is an area in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, located between Tokyo Station and the Kokyo, Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. Marunouchi is the core ...

, Chiyoda,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. It launched operations at a new plant in the United States for making its mainstay products " Kappa Ebisen" shrimp chips and "Saya-endo"

snow pea The snow pea is an edible-pod pea with flat pods and thin pod walls, in contrast to snap pea pods, which are round with thick walls. It is eaten whole, with both the seeds and the pod, while still unripened. Names The common name snow pea ...

crisps on 18 September 2007. Another popular snack they sell are potato fries, called "Jagabee". Its snacks are hugely popular in Asia and are well known in the United States.

History

The company was founded in devastated post-war

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

by Takashi Matsuo in 1949. His first product was the Calbee Caramel, named after the word "calcium" and vitamin B1. Due to the product's popularity, the company name was changed to Calbee in 1955. In 1973, Calbee Moh Seng (previously the Moh Seng Importer & Exporter Private Limited) was integrated into Calbee. It started off as the sole distributor of Calbee goods in Singapore. In the 1970s, Calbee partnered with Four Seas Group to introduce the company's products in Hong Kong. In 1994, the two companies formed the Calbee Four Seas joint venture company, and opened a new production plant in

Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate (, branded as ) is located in the southeast of the Tseung Kwan O, Tseung Kwan O New Town, Sai Kung District in Hong Kong. Location Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate has an area of 75 ha (other sources mention 86 h ...

in 2000. In 1980, Calbee established Calbee Tanawat in Thailand. Calbee International launched in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1992. In 2018, Calbee acquired UK company Seabrook Crisps. In 2019, Calbee acquired Warnock Food Products.

Sponsorship

Calbee sponsored the

Tyrrell Racing The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell (1924–2001) which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the e ...

F1 team from 1990 to 1994 when Japanese drivers Satoru Nakajima and

Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Katayama participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting at the 1992 South African Grand Prix, making him the sport's most experienced Japanese driv ...

drove for the team. The company was also one of the sponsors for the anime '' Tiger and Bunny''. Alongside dmm.com, they sponsored the character of Dragon Kid. Calbee is one of the sponsors of the

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

league; the sponsorship includes product tie-ins with the league, the teams and a collaboration with

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

's Pro Baseball Spirits A.

References

External links

* * food manufacturers based in Tokyo Snack food manufacturers of Japan Brand name potato chips and crisps Japanese companies established in 1949 Confectionery companies of Japan Food and drink companies established in 1949 {{Food-company-stub