Pepero is a biscuit stick covered or filled with chocolate as well as other sweets and nuts such as vanilla, strawberry, cheese and/or crushed almonds. This snack is so popular in Korea that it even has its own holiday named "Pepero Day" and its observance is similar to Valentine's Day which is celebrated in America. Pepero Day is held on November 11, since the date "11/11" resembles four sticks of Pepero and it is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts.
Lotte Confectionary Co., who owns the Pepero brand denies starting the holiday and instead states that they noticed a bump in sales around November 11th and after continued popularity, they decided to then encourage the holiday with special gift boxes and other promotions. According to one story, Pepero Day was supposedly started in 1994 at a girls’ middle school, where students exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow "as tall and slender as a Pepero". But some suspect that Pepero Day was actually dreamt by Lotte’s marketing team.
Pepero is available in different flavors such as regular chocolate, strawberry-flavored, almond chocolate, nude (chocolate in the center), nude lemon cheese, cocoa, and much more.
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