Choco Pie - History

History

In 1929, the MoonPie with marshmallow filling and Graham crackers was created by Chattanooga Bakery for local miners in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Starting in 1958, a similar type of marshmallow filling cake was sold by Morinaga in Japan as "Angel Pie".

Tongyang Confectionery (Orion) started to sell a similar product known as "Orion Choco Pie" in 1974. In 1973, a member of the Tongyang's R&D team had visited a hotel in Georgia, US, and was inspired after seeing chocolate-covered sweets in the hotel's cafe. He returned to South Korea and began experimenting with a chocolate biscuit cake. After experimentation with marshmallows and biscuits, the Choco Pie was created. The name "Choco Pie" became famous when "Orion Choco Pie" was first introduced by Tongyang, and the cake became well-received by many Korean children and senior citizens because of its inexpensive price and the white marshmallow filling. Tongyang Confectionery later renamed the company to Orion Confectionery due to the success of the "Orion Choco Pie" brand.

In 1979 Lotte Confectionery also started to sell a similar cake. When Lotte Confectionery put "Lotte Choco Pie" on the market, it spelled "Cho" slightly differently in Hangul from that of Tongyang's product. Haitai and Crown Confectionery also began selling their own chocolate pies. In 1999 Tongyang (Orion) filed a lawsuit against Lotte for their usage of "Choco Pie". As a result of the court ruling, "Choco Pie" is considered a common noun due to its usage to refer to the similar cakes.