Good news for Tokyo office workers who are feeling peckish but can’t escape on a conbini run. Office Glico (www.ezaki-glico.net), an offshoot of the snack maker best known for its Pocky brand, is satisfying their cravings with the Refresh Box. This plastic container takes up just a B5-paper-size worth of desk space, but is stocked with 10 varieties of goodies, all costing just a mere 100 yen.
There are no service, maintenance or equipment fees, and Glico staff stop by once a week to restock the shelves (with new items). Other options include the Ice Refresh Box (which adds a freezer for ice cream) and the Three Temperature Refresh Box (which throws in a fridge for good measure). The service is available in all 23 wards, plus Kawasaki, Yokohama, Chiba, Saitama and various areas nationwide. (Metropolis)
© Japan Today
10 Comments
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beams
This is not a new product. We've had it at our office for at least 3 years.
saborichan
Great, nothing like chocolate or other candy snacks to stave off hunger for a real meal.
Apsara
We've had it at our office for at least two years as well- same frog head on the top and everything.
gogogo
What I hated about this system was that one day the money vs product was out of sync all the Japanese staff blamed the foreigners in the company when the foreigners didn't even know the company had one of these. So they removed it from the office and said the foreigners were to blame for it leaving.
gogogo
Agreed this is not new, had the exact same thing and for the same price back in 7 years ago, same frog, same product.
TSRnow
Yeah, this is old news, but the freezer and the fridge versions are fairly new to me. Glad we don't have it in our office... straight to Metabo!
stirfry
take out all the local crap chocolate and re-fill it with something quality, and this would be a better idea
Cos
Oh, I love that kind of marketing !
About 5 yrs ago, we had one in the office, they didn't even ask if they could bring it. I found that unknown girl in the kitchen, asked if she was a burglar, a stalker of whatever. She proudly told me she was working : "The manager of your office agreed, so let me... -I'm the manager. -Eeeeto, your big boss told me... -This is my company. -Eeeeeeto, the owner of the office building said... and all the other offices have one. -Oh yeah ? Do like at home." We took all the junk, let the empty packages and put no money, just to see the reaction of the girl that came to refill it. The manager, unhappy to discover the object that day, was considering paying for the stuff with the coffee budget. I went to say : "Oh you mean, they were not samples ? So we ordered them, and you have an invoice...". The girl took the box away, saying she'd talk to her boss and come again. Still waiting. But others came when nobody was there to instal a box of painkillers and vitamins, but nothing we could use, no condoms, no viagra, boring. That time, I put it in a closet and locked it, they had to take an appointement to get it back.
deadhippo
We had it where we worked a few years ago too. About a year or so after I left I heard it was taken back by Glico. I imagine the non-Japanese were blamed for the missing money. In this case though I am pretty sure the blame was properly assigned.
fatfrenchfool
the metabo ladies in my office would be a great source of income for this