China’s Ministry of Commerce’s Time-Honored Brand Digital Museum identifies White Rabbit as a Shanghai food brand, lists 1959 as its brand founding year, and recognizes it as a Chinese time-honored brand.

The story of White Rabbit actually begins before the White Rabbit name existed.

In 1943, during wartime Shanghai, the ABC Candy Factory (爱皮西糖果厂) developed a milk candy after one of its merchants tasted an imported British milk candy and was impressed by it. After approximately six months of development, the factory produced its own version for the Chinese market.

The original product was not called White Rabbit. Instead, it was marketed as ABC Mickey Mouse Sweets, with packaging featuring a red illustration of Mickey Mouse. The candy was priced more affordably than imported confectionery, helping it become popular among Chinese consumers.1

This makes the brand’s history somewhat unusual: the White Rabbit identity is younger than the candy itself.

During the 1950s, ABC Candy Factory became state-owned. The Western Mickey Mouse imagery was subsequently replaced, and the product was redesigned around a white rabbit.2

By 1959, the product had become known as White Rabbit Creamy Candy. The year was particularly significant because the candy was presented as a product representing Shanghai industrial workers for the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese government also records 1959 as the founding year of the White Rabbit brand.

Thus, there are two dates that are important when discussing its history:

• 1943 — origin of the candy’s predecessor at ABC Candy Factory.
• 1959 — emergence of the recognizable White Rabbit brand.

One of White Rabbit’s greatest branding achievements is its packaging. The classic design uses a predominantly white background, with red, blue and black typography, together with the distinctive rabbit illustration. The candy itself is individually wrapped and traditionally enclosed in a thin layer of edible rice paper.

The rice paper serves a practical purpose: it helps prevent the sticky candy from adhering to its outer wrapper. Unlike ordinary candy wrappers, however, consumers can simply put the entire candy—including the edible paper—into their mouths. This became one of White Rabbit’s defining characteristics.

The Rabbit

The rabbit itself has also evolved over time. Earlier versions depicted a more naturalistic rabbit, while later packaging developed the recognizable, more cartoon-like mascot with large forward-facing eyes.3 Consequently, the rabbit is not merely decoration. It functions as the central visual identity of the brand.

The classic White Rabbit candy is a soft, chewy milk candy formed into a small cylindrical shape. Its characteristic profile includes:

• Creamy milk flavor
• Sweet but distinctly milky taste
• Soft, elastic chew
• White color
• Cylindrical shape
• Edible rice-paper layer
• Individually wrapped pieces

The combination of milk flavor + chewiness + edible wrapper + rabbit imagery makes it immediately recognizable. The original product became sufficiently distinctive that “White Rabbit” eventually became almost synonymous with Chinese milk candy in international markets.

White Rabbit became particularly famous for the advertising slogan:

“Seven White Rabbit candies is equivalent to one cup of milk.”

The slogan helped position the candy not merely as confectionery but as something associated with milk and nourishment.4 This positioning is important to understanding White Rabbit’s cultural history. For generations of Chinese consumers, the product was not simply an occasional imported-style sweet; it became associated with childhood, family, holidays and growing up.

The slogan itself should be understood as a historical advertising claim, rather than a modern nutritional equivalence.

White Rabbit’s history intersects with several important periods of modern Chinese history.

1959 — National Day

White Rabbit candy was presented as a product marking the 10th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.5

1972 — Nixon’s Visit to China

During U.S. President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, then-Premier Zhou Enlai reportedly gave White Rabbit candies as a gift. This episode subsequently became part of the brand’s mythology and helped associate the candy with China’s opening to the outside world.6

The symbolism is interesting: a relatively ordinary children’s candy had become sufficiently representative of Chinese consumer culture that it could function as a small cultural ambassador.

White Rabbit eventually became part of the Guan Sheng Yuan food enterprise. Guan Sheng Yuan itself is much older than White Rabbit. It was founded in Shanghai in 1915 by businessman Xian Guansheng and developed into a major Chinese food brand. Its portfolio has included products such as honey, confectionery, seasonings and other foods.7

The White Rabbit brand was transferred to Guan Sheng Yuan (Group) Co., Ltd. in 1997, and Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food Co., Ltd. subsequently became the company associated with production of the candy.8

White Rabbit is part of the Bright Food Group ecosystem. Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food Co., Ltd. is affiliated with Bright Food, a large Shanghai-based food conglomerate. Contemporary corporate materials identify White Rabbit among Bright Food’s major food brands.9

In other words, the corporate structure can broadly be understood as:

White Rabbit
↓
Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food Co., Ltd.
↓
Bright Food Group ecosystem
↓
Shanghai municipal state-owned enterprise system

The brand therefore has an unusual combination of characteristics: it is simultaneously a commercial confectionery brand, a historic Shanghai brand, and a state-linked Chinese consumer brand.

White Rabbit has been officially recognized as a 中华老字号 (Zhōnghuá lǎozìhào), generally translated as a Chinese time-honored brand.

China’s Ministry of Commerce describes it as a classic Chinese domestic brand and identifies its strategy in recent years as brand rejuvenation—maintaining its traditional identity while introducing products and collaborations intended to appeal to younger consumers.10

This is a major part of White Rabbit’s modern strategy. Rather than allowing itself to remain merely a nostalgic candy, the company has increasingly treated the rabbit and its milk-candy identity as a broader lifestyle brand.

Although the original creamy milk candy remains the flagship product, White Rabbit has expanded beyond the classic flavor. Over the years, the brand has experimented with flavors and products including:

• Original milk
• Coffee
• Red bean
• Peanut
• Fruit flavors
• Other limited-edition flavors
• Ice cream and frozen desserts
• Biscuits and other confectionery
• Merchandise and lifestyle products

The exact product lineup varies by market and period. The brand has also participated in collaborations extending far beyond traditional candy. Shanghai’s municipal government has highlighted collaborations involving food and beverages, personal-care products and fashion-related merchandise.11

One of the most interesting developments in White Rabbit’s modern history is the transformation from:

candy brand → nostalgia brand → lifestyle/cultural brand

For example, White Rabbit has been used in collaborations involving:

• Ice cream
• Coffee
• Skincare
• Lip balm
• Perfume
• Clothing
• Toys
• Stationery
• Gift products
• Pop-up stores
• Tourist merchandise

In 2018–2019, for example, the brand collaborated with companies producing skincare and fragrance products, including a perfume and body-care line inspired by the scent of the milk candy.

This strategy allows the brand’s most valuable asset—the White Rabbit visual identity and nostalgic associations—to be monetized without depending exclusively on candy sales.

White Rabbit is not limited to mainland China. The brand has long been exported to overseas markets, particularly places with substantial Chinese and East/Southeast Asian communities.

A Chinese government export catalogue states that Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan’s international trading operation works with more than 100 overseas distributors in more than 70 countries and regions, with White Rabbit described as one of the company’s core international brands.12

More recent Bright Food corporate materials state that White Rabbit candy is sold in more than 25 countries and regions.13

Different sources give different figures depending on whether they count historical markets, distribution territories, or current active markets, so the safest characterization is that White Rabbit has a substantial international distribution network spanning multiple continents.

White Rabbit became particularly familiar in Southeast Asia, where Chinese confectionery has had a long-established consumer base. It is also well known in the Philippines, where White Rabbit candy has been sold for decades. Filipino media have specifically noted its popularity among consumers who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s.14

This gives White Rabbit an interesting cultural position outside China: it can function simultaneously as:

• A Chinese candy
• A Southeast Asian childhood snack
• A nostalgic imported product
• A Chinese New Year confection
• A collectible retro brand

Perhaps more than any particular flavor, nostalgia is White Rabbit’s greatest intangible asset. In China, White Rabbit is strongly associated with childhood and family traditions. It has appeared in Chinese films and television and is frequently associated with holidays such as Chinese New Year.15

For older consumers, the candy can represent:

childhood → family → Shanghai → traditional China → memories of earlier generations

For younger consumers, the same product can be presented differently:

retro → cute → collectible → Chinese heritage → lifestyle

That ability to mean different things to different generations is one reason the brand has remained commercially relevant for so long.

White Rabbit’s identity can be broken into several major elements.

🐇 The Rabbit

The rabbit is the unmistakable mascot and primary visual asset.

🥛 Milk

Milk is central to the product’s taste and historical positioning.

🍬 Candy

The chewy milk candy remains the core product around which the entire brand was built.

🇨🇳 Chinese Heritage

White Rabbit is strongly associated with China’s modern consumer history and the development of domestic Chinese brands.

🕰️ Nostalgia

Its old-fashioned packaging and unchanged basic product concept give it strong retro appeal.

🎨 Red, Blue and White

The classic color palette makes the package highly recognizable even from a distance.

Several factors explain its longevity.

1. Distinctive Product
The combination of chewy milk candy and edible rice paper was unusual and memorable.

2. Strong Visual Identity
The rabbit, typography and packaging have remained highly recognizable for generations.

3. Affordable Positioning
Historically, the candy was cheaper than imported alternatives, helping it achieve mass popularity.

4. Cultural Association
The product became embedded in childhood memories and family traditions.

5. Historical Longevity
A brand with roots going back to 1943 has enormous accumulated recognition.

6. Adaptability
The company has repeatedly introduced new flavors, products and collaborations rather than relying exclusively on the original candy.

7. International Distribution
The brand has maintained a significant overseas presence through distributors and export operations.

A useful way to understand the entire history is as four stages:

Stage 1 — 1943–1950s: Imported Inspiration

ABC Candy Factory creates a Chinese milk candy inspired by British confectionery.

Identity: affordable domestic alternative.

Stage 2 — 1959–1970s: National Icon

The product becomes White Rabbit and is incorporated into China’s national consumer culture.

Identity: Chinese domestic brand + children’s candy.

Stage 3 — 1980s–2000s: Mass-Market Nostalgia

White Rabbit becomes a familiar household confectionery brand and expands internationally.

Identity: childhood memory + Chinese cultural icon.

Stage 4 — 2010s–Present: Brand Rejuvenation

White Rabbit begins collaborating across food, fashion, beauty and lifestyle categories.

Identity: heritage brand + nostalgia + modern Chinese pop culture.

This fourth stage is particularly important because it shows that White Rabbit is no longer simply selling candy. It is selling the cultural meaning associated with the candy.

White Rabbit remains one of China’s best-known traditional confectionery brands. Corporate materials indicate that the brand continues to hold a leading position in China’s milk-candy market, while White Rabbit products are distributed internationally.

At the same time, the company continues to pursue “brand rejuvenation”, using collaborations and new products to make the decades-old brand attractive to younger consumers.

This creates an unusual brand model:

White Rabbit is simultaneously a candy, a heritage brand, a mascot, a nostalgia object and a contemporary lifestyle brand.

White Rabbit is a Shanghai-born Chinese confectionery brand whose signature chewy milk candy evolved from a 1943 ABC Candy Factory product into a nationally recognized symbol of Chinese childhood, and eventually into a globally distributed heritage and lifestyle brand.

The Simplest Way to Think About White Rabbit

1943: a Chinese imitation of foreign milk candy
→ 1959: a Chinese national brand
→ 1970s–2000s: a childhood icon
→ 2010s: a nostalgia brand
→ 2020s: a modern Chinese heritage/lifestyle brand.

That evolution—from ordinary candy to cultural icon—is arguably what makes White Rabbit one of the most interesting Chinese food brands to study.

1. White Rabbit (candy
2. How China’s iconic White Rabbit sweets went from a Shanghai favourite to being known the world over
3. A History of White Rabbit Candy
4. Who Owns White Rabbit Candy? Manufacturer and History – LegalClarity
5. White Rabbit Candy History: Origin & Flavors
6. White Rabbit Candy (Da Bai Tu Nai Tang 大白兔奶糖) – Chinese Food Wiki
7. The Evolution of White Rabbit Candy: A Cultural Icon | Peverelli on Chinese food and culture
8. WHITE RABBIT WHITE RABBIT – Shanghai Guan Sheng Yuan Food Ltd. Trademark Registration
9. Fears for ‘White Rabbit’ candy as public tastes change
10. What happened to favorite candies of the past?
11. White Rabbit run not over yet
12. FAQ — White Rabbit
13. Ice Cream — White Rabbit
14. White Rabbit (candy) explained
15. SHANGHAI GUAN SHENG YUAN FOOD LTD. Trademarks Page 1 :: Justia Trademarks