Hey, Childless Millennials: We Found Another Character From Your Youth That's Taking Over The Food World
You know what they say about the beloved animated characters of our youth, yes? That they age like fine wine? So much so that you want their adorably frozen-in-time faces all over the food you eat and the food-adjacent merch you buy?
Fine, they may not say that, but you have undoubtedly noticed the recent influx of edible products stamped with iconic Disney faces on them. And while we saw a surge of them for Mickey's 90th birthday around this time last year—Oreos! Goldfish! Campbell's soup cans!—the ones that've popped up this month for Hello Kitty's 45th anniversary have cemented her as the Most Likely Character From A Millennial's Youth To Take Over Grocery Store Aisles™. Not only did Miss Kitty expand her reach into food long before now, but she managed to do it in far less time and, some might argue, with more success than any other generation-defining character you can think of (...sorry, @SpongeBob).
In fact, Hello Kitty's journey to #foodstagram queen has happened over the course of just the past 10 years because of the company's ability to identify and create viral food moments that are accessible to everyone. In between the big birthdays and milestones, there's still an evergreen bombardment of new food and drink products from big box retailers and parent company Sanrio, as well as cross-country pop-ups that people can easily attend without having to save for years and years. In fact, 50,000 kinds of Hello Kitty merchandise are sold in more than 130 countries and territories as of last year. That cheaper everyday joy—rather than the expensive once-in-a-lifetime kind—has been her sneaky sweet spot for years. And that's why she's balling out for the big four-five.
The recent announcement of Hello Kitty x Cost Plus World Market's partnership is a perfect example of her ability to reach the masses in a food capacity without hitting you over the head. Of the 60 items in the new holiday collection, half of them are food, alcohol, or trinkets shaped like food or alcohol. None of them are over $40. The breadth (and price-point!) of the collection are very intentional, World Market CEO Jack Schwefel tells Delish: "We have featured items and brands over our 60 years but this is our biggest effort in recent history. We have known our customer loved Hello Kitty as we have sold a variety of food items in our assortments over the years."
Schwefel says incorporating food into the collection was crucial. "Food has such great engagement in our stores, one bite is all it takes," he explains. So the combination of food and Hello Kitty? "Customers [are] lining up in front of our stores before opening." The company has partnered with Sanrio in the past, and just gauging the success of this partnership, they will again in the future.
And though the acclaim for the World Market collaboration and has been "overwhelming," Hello Kitty doesn't rest on her laurels while people are standing in line to buy her merch. In fact, Sanrio is reportedly after even more licensing opportunities in North America, both pegged to and separate of Hello Kitty's 45th anniversary. "The company is looking to grow sales by increasing brand recognition [over the next few years] and, towards this end, will be investing more in signboards and store fixtures to assure its sales channels," a 2018 Shared Research memo reports.
So! She's opening new locations where you can come eat and interact with her across the country, all the while innovating at her existing restaurants. Because, sure, yeah, Hello Kitty pasta is a great photo opp, but Hello Kitty + pasta + you?? That's Instagram gold.
At the most recent pop-up (which'll live in NYC through December 24), visitors can pore through hundreds of those aforementioned types of food merch, all the while drinking Hello Kitty Wine and soda and snacking on Hello Kitty cookies. Again, that picture perfect-cuteness of it all isn't lost on the company. When it comes to food served in their cafés, trucks, and food-related pop-ups (of which there are at least five total at any given time across the U.S.), "we pay attention to detail when we are developing the food so not only does it look super cute and Instagrammable, it also tastes good too," Director of Brand Marketing at Sanrio Susan Tran explains.
...That's not to say all your other animated favs aren't looking closely at the cuteness and social impact of all their edible products. But Hello Kitty's crew is "paying attention to [fans'] conversations on social media to hear what they are asking for," rather than relying on food social media trends in general to bring food to parks that they think people as a whole will like. That back and forth with fans then informs the decisions they make: "For the U.S. market, fans are responding positively to Hello Kitty’s expansion into food. We will continue to focus on growing this area further through our cafes and additional programs at retail."
So! More Kitty! More food! More Kitty food! Coming to just about everywhere near you in 2020. (No, but really—Hello Kitty confirms they already have fun food things in the pipeline for Sanrio's 60th anniversary, and, presumably, for Hello Kitty's forthcoming 50th).
None of this takes into account why people need (and will continue to buy) food stuffs with their beloved childhood cartoons stamped onto them, of course. But it does prove there will never not be a ravenous, multi-billion dollar market for all of it. So while goodness only knows what Hello Kitty's got in store for her 50th (mouthless cat-branded energy gel? Pink bow-adorned edible sex dust?!), it's bound to be as big and delicious and omnipresent as ever.
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