Wine, cafes & collaborations

The wine

Hello Kitty wine is real and it is Italian. It has been made since 2007 by Az. Agr. Torti, the Torti family estate in Montecalvo Versiggia, Oltrepò Pavese, Lombardy, Italy, under a Sanrio license. A real, drinkable range, not a novelty: a Pinot Noir IGT (100% Pinot Nero), a Pinot Noir vinified in white, a sparkling rosé of Pinot Nero and Chardonnay, a sweeter “Sweet Pink,” plus Prosecco and Pinot Grigio added later. The Pinot Noir took a Five Star Wines award at Vinitaly in 2017. The line is sold across grocery and specialty stores in dozens of US states.

The cafes

Hello Kitty and Sanrio cafes run worldwide, most operated by licensees rather than Sanrio itself: the Sanrio Cafe in Ikebukuro, Tokyo; a three-floor Hello Kitty Apple Cafe that opened in Myeongdong, Seoul in early 2025; the long-running Hongdae cafe, since rebranded Sanrio Lovers Club; plus spots in Bangkok, Las Vegas and California. A 50th-anniversary cafe toured Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in late 2024.

Fashion and fast food

The collaborations span the whole price range, from a Balenciaga handbag to a McDonald’s Happy Meal. The clearest measure of the brand’s pull is still the 2000 McDonald’s promotion in Singapore: an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people queued for a pair of plush dolls, around 2.8 million toys sold.