Hello Panda is the Japanese biscuit snack by Meiji that features hollow cookies printed with cartoon pandas.
Meiji first released Hello Panda in Japan in 1979. Each biscuit is made from a small hollow shortbread shell with a crème filling, commonly chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, or matcha. The panda illustrations show the animals performing activities such as fencing and archery.
The product was originally baked in Japan, but production later expanded to Singapore and Indonesia as Meiji built an international snack business. Packaging and available flavors vary by market; U.S. versions, for example, have included pandas playing basketball, hockey, and baseball.
A common mix-up is Yan Yan, another Meiji snack introduced in 1979. Yan Yan consists of biscuit sticks that are dipped into a separate compartment of flavored frosting, while Hello Panda combines a filled cookie with a printed panda design. Pretz and Toppo are also stick-shaped Japanese snacks, not the panda-printed biscuit.