Yogurt in Japan

Fro-yo girl here. I recently visited Japan. Frozen yogurt is hard to find there, but yogurt is easier to find. Since I was busy eating soft cream, I wasn’t able to consume too much yogurt, but I did try a few yogurt products. I also spotted the yogurt shelf at a Japanese supermarket. Most of the brand names were in Japanese but I recognized a few brands: Morinaga, Dannon/Danone, and Meiji. The yogurt typically comes in small individual cups, to be eaten as snacks. It’s rare for Japanese to use yogurt in cooking. I didn’t see skyr or non-dairy yogurt. City-cost describes some of the leading Japanese yogurt brands.

Yakult, the fermented milk drink, was developed by Japanese scientist Dr. Minoru Shirota. The first bottle of Yakult was produced in 1935. Yakult claims to have billions of live and active bacteria of an exclusive probiotic strain, Lactobacillus casei Shirota.

The market leader in the Japanese yogurt market is a product called Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt. Meiji launched Japan’s first plain yogurt in 1971. They obtained naming rights from Bulgaria and released Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt in 1973. It took some time for the Japanese consumers to accept Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt, but they were won over by health benefit claims and the positioning as authentically Bulgarian. The company imported yogurt starter cultures from Bulgaria.

One tub of yogurt that I had in Japan had a Yakult like flavor. I also had a yogurt that tasted like plain yogurt. It wasn’t as thick as Greek yogurt but it wasn’t sweetened or Yakult like. The best yogurt product that I found was a thick yogurt drink from Azumino Winery in Nagano Prefecture. It’s made with raw milk from Azumino cows.

Yogurt art is also increasing in popularity in Japan. Japanese use plain yogurt “as a canvas to create pictures with fruits and sauces.” I’ve seen examples on Instagram. 

I visited Mitsuwa in San Gabriel, CA and they didn’t have any imported Japanese yogurt. The only yogurt brands they carried were Beijing Yogurt and Alove.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.