Wine, cafes & collaborations
The licensing catalog runs from the runway to the bottle shop: a Balenciaga handbag that walked in 2020, Happy Meal tie-ins that once drew a quarter of a million Singaporeans into queues, and a Lombardy estate that has bottled an award-winning Hello Kitty Pinot Noir since 2007. Nothing here is a bootleg, and every item pays Sanrio a royalty.
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.
- Producer
- Az. Agr. Torti, the Torti family estate
- Since
- 2007
- Region
- Montecalvo Versiggia, Oltrepò Pavese, Lombardy, Italy
A few of the licensed collaborations
Balenciaga
A Hello Kitty handbag that walked the runway in 2020, the highest-fashion end of the catalogue.
Nike & adidas
Hello Kitty takes on the Air Presto and the Superstar, both 2022.
Puma, Converse, Crocs
Sneaker and clog tie-ins, with a Crocs collection for the 2024 50th anniversary.
McDonald’s
Recurring Happy Meal tie-ins. The 2000 Singapore “wedding” series set off a national frenzy: an estimated 250,000–300,000 people queued and about 2.8 million toys sold.
Mattel
A 2019 international license for dolls, games and Hot Wheels-style vehicles.
Build-A-Bear
A Sanrio retail and plush partnership running close to 20 years.
Miniso
A major global retailer of licensed Sanrio goods, one of several IP lines it carries.
Sources of record