KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 13 -- Japan's Ezaki Glico is a renowned global food company but they didn't get there solely through creative advertising and large-scale production.

The over 100-year-old company, famously known for introducing the world's first chocolate-coated biscuit sticks, Pocky, has always relied on heavy research and development (R&D) for their products - from finding the perfect healthy ingredients and methods to understanding new markets and consumers.

This can be seen, for example, in the R&D work they've put into one of their flagship products in health and wellness, the Almond Koka, where they spent countless hours ensuring they can deliver the health benefits of almonds in their product more effectively and conveniently....