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Japanese mochi ice cream becomes latest TikTok trend

Oona McGee Feb 26, 2021
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Demand for bite-sized “Little Moons” skyrockets, selling out at supermarkets.

Trends come and go all the time, but with social media platforms like TikTok now dominating the scene, a trend can turn into a full-on craze, and that’s what’s happening across the U.K. at the moment, as people everywhere scramble to get their hands on Japanese mochi ice cream.

Mochi ice cream has been around in Japan for decades, with manufacturer Lotte popularising the sweet under the Yukimi Daifuku (“Snow-viewing dumplings“) brand introduced to the market in 1981.

▼ Yukimi Daifuku was around long before Little Moons.

The soft and pudgy ice creams, covered in a thin layer of mochi (pounded rice cake), have become increasingly well-known worldwide, but it took a brand called “Little Moons” to make people in England go crazy for them.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Little Moons (@littlemoonsmochi)

It’s a marketing dream come true for siblings Howard and Vivien Wong, who started Little Moons in the U.K. back in 2010, with a vision to bring Japanese mochi to the masses. Now, over ten years later, their sales have gone through the roof after TikTok users began raving about them, and supermarkets have been unable to keep up with demand, making the sweets even more sought after.

▼ Videos on TikTok shows customers on the hunt for the little iced confections, which appear to be sold out at most of the big supermarket chains.

@shona.karolina

Yumm those Little Moons were amazing🥰😉 #littlemoons #littlemoonsmochi #fyp #foryoupage #lidlmoons #lidl

♬ drivers license x all I want by Olivia Rodrigo – ella🥲🥲🥲

https://www.tiktok.com/@izzyrobinson05/video/6931049094236425478?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6899268005194679809

Even those who would’ve previously turned their noses up at the combination of rice and ice cream have become obsessed with trying Little Moons to see if they live up to the hype. And the response from the overwhelming majority of people who’ve tried them? They really are worth it.

▼ Popular English YouTubers like Mark Ferris have also been getting in on the trend, after being inundated with requests from subscribers to try them.

One of the secrets to the brand’s huge success is the variety of flavours available, covering winning ingredients like chocolate, passionfruit, pistachio, and cookie dough. They also offer gluten-free and vegan options.

@littlemoonsmochi

The perfect week… 💗 #littlemoons #littlemoonsmochi #fyp #viral #mochi

♬ Monday-Saturday – Marta Sierra

And while the boxed supermarket varieties are the ones everyone has gone mad for, the brand has standalone stores that sell the Little Moons separately.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Little Moons (@littlemoonsmochi)

The boxes, if you can find them at stores, contain six gelato ice creams and are sold at a recommended retail price point of 4.50 GBP (US$6.27). Little Moons says there’s been a 700-percent increase in January sales at supermarkets compared to December 2020, and with the company having built a brand new mochi-making factory last year in response to growing demand in the U.K. and internationally, the trend may well be coming to your country soon.

If that’s whetted your appetite for more mochi, we’ve got plenty more for you here, including Häagen-Dazs’ delicious mochi ice creams and the lightning-fast moves of Japan’s fastest mochi maker.

Related: Little Moons
Sources: Brighton & Hove Independent, TikTok/#littlemoons
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